Spilling the Beans
by RosarioN
Summary: sequel to Letting the Cat Out of the Bag...The Halliwells thought all their secrets were out, how wrong could they have
1. From Lost to the River

**2011 Authors Note: **

**It has probably been years since any one read this story - but in response to some confused reviewers, and to emphasize what is written below - this story is Part III of a trilogy, the order of which is:**

**Part I - Opening Up the Can of Worms**

**Part II - Letting the Cat Out of the Bag**

**Part III - Spilling the Beans.**

**You need to read the first 2 stories for things to make sense!**

A/n: I'd like to say that this could be read as a stand alone story, but reading this without having first read 'Letting the Cat Out of the Bag' or 'Opening up the Can of Worms', renders most of it nonsensical.

I wasn't too sure about writing a sequel to 'Letting the Cat…', I'm still not, so please be kind.

**Spilling the Beans**

Chapter 1: From Lost to the River

_(De perdidos al rio)_

_**June 2007**_

There was no denying that Rosie Halliwell was a pretty baby. Her bouncing black curls, pink cheeks and bright blue eyes meant that at the ripe old age of 18 months she new how to 'work' a room , casting all adults under her bewitching spell. It came as a surprise therefore, to find that on this particular day, those assembled in the manor parlour were not hypnotised by her every move, but rather, it was her older cousin Ben who found himself the focus of attention. She wrinkled up her tiny nose, following her parents gaze, toward the 5 year old.

Ben sat on the edge of the sofa, his shoulders sagging, an expression of worry on his face, looking very much as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"It's okay Ben, we'll hear from them soon" Piper assured him.

He sighed, and for a second he looked so much like a little old man that Paige nearly burst out laughing.

"When your Daddy rings, we'll all orb over there" She explained gently for the umpteenth time.

Ben merely nodded. Being the only son of a demon and a witch, he was used to either mummy or daddy disappearing for short periods time while they went and fought demons, but never both of them at the same time, one of them always stayed with him. Until now that was.

"I still don't get what all this fuss is about" Poppy, sprawled in an over stuffed armchair, was busy replenishing the black nail polish on her left hand.

"He's only little, have some patience" Kyle told her, in no mood for his eldest daughters attitude.

"Why is anybody worrying? We all know it's going to be a girl, 6lb 1 0z, called Paloma ." Chris poured half a bag of crisps into his mouth.

"Paloma?" Paige questioned

"Yeah, it's Spanish for 'Dove', traditionally symbols of peace and all that jazz" he explained.

"You never know, it could be different this time round." Leo said

"Wanna bet? 50 bucks says that I'm right."

"Yeah? Well 50 bucks says.."

"There will be no betting, wagering or gambling on the life of my new niece" Piper interrupted.

"Which proves that you think I'm right and it is a girl"

"actually" Ben spoke up "It's going to be a Bastard"

Poppy's bottle of nail polish hit the floor breaking the shocked silence of the room, followed almost immediately by the sound of Chris choking on his crisps, he began coughing violently to the extent that Leo was forced to hit him on the back. "what?" he spluttered.

"A Bastard" Ben repeated calmly.

"Honey where did you here that?" Paige asked.

"At Lewis' house. I said that Mummy and Daddy were going to get married after the baby was born so that Mummy could wear her nice dress, and his older brother said that the baby would be a Bastard. What is a Bastard?"

"well, it's a .." Chris began

"Shouldn't you be in lectures?" Piper changed subject."I'm not paying all that money in college tuition for you to be standing around the house doing nothing"

"It's reading week"

"well then, shouldn't you be reading?"

"mum! No one actually _reads_ in reading week"

" I did.."

A snort came from Poppys direction.

"Did you say something?" Paige challenged her daughter.

"No"

"Good" Paige's eyes narrowed, taking in her daughters' appearance. "I sincerely hope that is _not_ the new top I bought you the other week"

"so what if it is?" came the reply

"well I distinctly remember paying 20$ for a top with a front, back, and ah yes _sleeves_" she indicated the arms of the black cotton top which now had a series of holes running down them.

"so I modified it"

"_Modified it_? You've hacked large chunks out of it. Modifying something implies that you are making it better, in what possible way does that make it look better?"

"don't worry Aunt Paige" Chris called "she's going for homeless person chic, it's all the rage amongst _teenagers_"

"Ever since you turned 20, you've been the biggest pain in the a.."

"Hey guys" Cole shimmered in. "It's all over"

"Daddy!" Ben ran toward him

"Benny Boy" he swung his son round "come meet your little sister"

Chris raised his eyebrows, giving his mother an ' I told you so' smile.

'alright' she said' let's save the self congratulatory speeches for later shall we? We've got a niece to meet. Paige and I will orb over with Cole and Ben, the rest of you can follow, Leo you can take my car"

"Car? What's this about a car?" Chris puzzled

"we are not all orbing in en masse, It's a hospital it's a public place people will notice" Piper told him, Paige nodding in agreement, handing Rosie over to Kyle.

"toodles" Paige called before orbing the pair of them up and out.

_**20 minutes later**_

"Christopher, hurry up, it doesn't even take your mother this long to get ready" Leo shouted from the driveway, tapping his foot impatiently, Kyle, Poppy and Rosie had already gone on ahead.

Leo sighed, noticing the new neighbours had come out of the house opposite, he turned and gave them a friendly wave.

"It's not my fault Wyatt lost one of his trainers" Chris grumbled stepping outside with a brother in each hand.

"Never mind that" Leo told him, his attention diverted back to his sons, "Get in, other wise Paloma will already have celebrated her first birthday by the time we see her"

Maybe it was because he was distracted that Leo didn't notice that the new neighbours didn't return his wave. Maybe it was because he was in a rush that Leo didn't realise that the pair of them were staring at him so intently that their gaze almost bore holes into his back. Maybe it was because Leo was too busy listening to Chris that he didn't hear one of them make a phone call, a phone call that would later unintentionally disrupt the peace that had fallen over the Halliwell manor…

XXX

TBC – mainly scene setting – more action to come.


	2. A New Arrival

**Disclaimer: I don't own charmed**

**Chapter 2: A New Arrival**

"ah how cute" Paige cooed

"I guess someone was a little tired" Leo commented.

"we all need a nap now and then" Kyle added.

The three of them laughed, staring at Cole who had managed to fall asleep despite being sat upright at the dining room table.

"Cole" Phoebe hissed, prodding him in the side "wake up you're dribbling!"

"huh" Cole awoke with a start

"You fell asleep again" She told him.

"well, honey that's because Paloma seems to have inherited her mother's lung capacity"

"Cole, she's only 3 weeks old, how can she be expected to sleep through the night already?"

"Ben was a good little sleeper"

"Actually" Kyle added "Rosie learnt to sleep through quite quickly too"

"Not helping" Paige told him.

"seeing as you are so well rested" Phoebe told him " You won't mind looking through some of these wedding catalogues with me this afternoon"

"It's a bit early for all that isn't it? I thought we agreed to wait until the baby was 6 months old…"

"It's never too early to start planning"

"Face it dude – you're not getting out of this one"kyle nudged him.

Cole grimaced. "Fine, but only on the condition that we take the stupid things to the park. What do you say Ben, want to go have a kick about with your old dad?"

"Yes" he replied "But I was thinking.."

"what?" Phoebe grew concerned at the pensive look on her son's face

"Can we stop at the shop on the way and take the baby back?" he asked

"huh?"

"swap her for a boy? Boys are much nicer than girls……" He stated.

His parents were saved the need to answer by Poppy rushing into the room

"I'm off, I'll be back at 5" she told them

"where are you going?" Kyle asked

"I told you this morning – to the cinema"

"correction" Paige interrupted "You asked us this morning , and I believe the jury is still out over whether you were allowed to go or not, given last week's little charade"

"_mum_"

"Let her go" Kyle said, deciding that it would be much better than watching her sulk all afternoon.

"fine" Paige conceded

"Great, I'll see you later" she made a beeline for the door

"wait a minute, who's this friend you're going with? Julia? Katie? Claire?.."

"Daz" came the barely heared reply over the sound of the front door slamming.

"_Daz?_" Kyle and Paige chorused in unison exchanging looks of concern.

………………

Out in the Kitchen Piper and Chris were doing the dishes, enjoying each others company, catching up on each others news for the week.

"so, have you decided what you're going to buy Jenny for your two year anniversary" she asked her son.

"I don't know" Chris replied "something special"

"Your father used to buy me a bunch of Roses back in the early days"

"what does he get you now?"

Piper thought for a moment, "this year he got me a matching tea towel, oven mitt and ironing board cover"

"How romantic" Chris rolled his eyes.

"it's my own fault, I mentioned that I liked them.."

"but still..I'm going to get Jen something much nicer than _that_"

"As long as you're not thinking of buying any form of Jewellery, say, a ring.?."

"gosh mum you're just so subtle, it was really hard for me to guess what you were inferring….Relax ok"

"but you and Bianca…"

"That was different. I have no plans to get engaged this time around, I'm enjoying having some fun, being a student, no saving the world from evil responsibility. Jen and I are serious but not _that _serious"

"good" she patted him on the back. "I'm proud of you"

"Hey" Leo stuck his head into the room "I'm going to drop the boys off at your dads and then go and catch-up with one of my charges"

"By 'catch-up' I assume you mean 'play a round of golf'?" Piper teased , throwing him her car keys

"Can you drop me off at Jenny's on the way?" Chris asked

"sure" They both headed out, calling their goodbyes.

_Wow,_ Piper thought, _9 down and 3 to go_ before she could have the house to herself for a few hours. She busied herself putting away the remaining dishes, as Phoebe and Cole got ready to leave.

"Ready" Phoebe called from the hall way.

"Okay" Cole appeared, a baby sling on his front

"You know, pink really suits you" she told him

"ha ha"

The phone rang, Phoebe leaned over to answer it, and Cole groaned, if this was one of her friends, they would never leave.

"you want to speak to who sorry?" Phoebe asked the receiver.

"yes, Leo Wyatt does live here, but he's not home at the moment"

"Okay then.bye"

She turned, "see, just someone after Leo, that's all…BYE" she hollered toward the kitchen.

"wait up" Paige was descending the stairs, Kyle running behind her carrying Rosie,"we're coming with you"

Cole rolled his eyes. "everyone out" he summoned, pushing them out the door.

…………..

2 hours later and Piper was finally putting her feet up. Relishing in having the house to herself she had given everywhere a good tidy, baked some cookies, and was now looking forward to sitting down with a mug of coffee and indulging in some brainless tv watching. Scanning the TV Guide she saw that Danielle Steel's 'A Perfect Stanger' was on Hallmark. _Just what I need_ she thought.

No sooner had she settled back and turned on the TV, than there was a knock on the door. Dragging herself to her feet, she swung the door open to reveal a smartly dressed woman on the door step.

"Hello" the stranger began "I'm sorry to bother you like this"

Piper vaguely recognised her as one of the new people who had moved in across the street.

"It's just.." The woman continued, however before she could get any further, Piper's ears picked up the sound of an ominous thud coming from the front room.

"I'm sorry" she told the woman "now isn't a good time" she began shutting the door

"It's okay" the woman called "I'll come back later"

"Yes, yes, please do" Piper replied distractedly, hoping that the Power of One, would be sufficient to deal with whichever demon that had just called by unannounced.

Racing to the previously empty room, she found a small child stood nervously by the sofa.

It was a girl, about 4 years old in Pipers opinion, with big brown eyes and long dark hair pulled soberly into two plats. She had an air of familiarity about her, but Piper couldn't quite place where she might have seen her before.

"Hello" Piper said softly, as she approached the child, "where did you come from?"

"I don't know" the child's large soulful eyes filled with tears, " I, I, I w was at home and then s s suddenly I was here. W w where am I?" She cried.

"Hey don't cry" Piper's heart went out to the child, and immediately gathered her in her arms "It's okay"

She looked down at the girl who was sobbing gently in her arms. She was dressed in a black pinafore dress over a white t-shirt, with little white ankle socks and black ballet pumps. Fashionistas would call it a 'timeless classic'. This girl could be from anywhere, the past, the present, the future, hell she could have wondered in from next door for all she knew!

The tears were subsiding gradually, and Piper's motherly instincts kicked in, "My name is Piper. Would you like a cookie?" she asked gently.

The girl nodded.

Piper quickly grabbed a cookie from the jar in the kitchen and hurriedly returned to the font room. Handing the sweet biscuit over to the girl, she noticed an envelope held tightly in her tiny fist.

"what's that?" She asked.

The child appeared to have forgotten that she had it in her possession. She handed it over to Piper. "Laura gave it to me to look after , she said it was very important"

Piper took the rumpled paper. Turning the envelope over she found that the blue ink had run and blurred, making it impossible to read to whom it was addressed. Seeing as how this child had ended up in her house, she thought she had enough right as anyone to read the letter within, so sitting down next to the child, Piper removed opened the envelope, removed the letter, and began to read…

XXX

TBC


	3. The Letter

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed.

a/n : Before I get a barrage of complaints about the feasibility of what happens below – the intricate nature of time travel and all it's future implications is far too mind boggling for me – it happened because I wanted it too!

**Chapter 3 : The letter**

Dear Chris,

If you are reading this it means that the event I have been dreading for these past few months has finally happened. Don't be upset, it was nothing anyone could have prevented, Cancer is not discriminatory – a witch is no safer than a mortal from this most awful disease.

The child, _this_ child, as you may have guessed, is your daughter, _our_ daughter. Imagine my surprise when upon my resurrection, I found that she was alive, bearing a different name, and a little older, but alive none the less.

Rebirth. You see, I remember. I remember that evil world that once was. A world so full of terror and hate that it could not be allowed to continue. A world that killed our daughter when she was merely a toddler. A world that you despised so much that you were prepared to sacrifice everything and everyone to change it. And change it you did, though I am sure you are aware of that by now….

How can I have been alive again you ask? Well I shall do my best to answer. My final memories of our old life are of me dying that day in the attic, impaled brutally upon a spike. My world went black, and when I awoke I was above in the white clouds of the so- called Elderland. I was there, along with hundreds of other people, all of whom had been 'sacrificed' in the fight for good. We were told that the future had been changed, and that we were once again to be allowed the chance to live our lives, to follow the destinies that 'nature', rather than 'evil' intended. However, unlike the rest of the inhabitants of the new world, we would retain both sets of memories. As the elders explained to us, knowledge is key. 'It has happened before, and it remains possible for it to happen again' we were told. Only in knowledge can the events of the past be prevented from reoccurring, therefore it would be down to us few to remember that which went before.

I was sent back down to earth, I found myself in my bedroom, hearing a noise coming from the living room, I followed it, and saw Leona, sitting there on the sofa, smiling at me. She only has patchy memories of her life before, and I have managed to convince her that most of it is a figment of her imagination. I was so happy, and excited too at the thought that we might now be a proper family, you, Leona and I. I waited for you to come and join us, but you never came back.

My new set of memories told me that Piper never approved of me, that there was some form of estrangement, though I am not entirely sure why, and that I left, keeping my pregnancy a secret to all but you. I went over to the manor once, not long after my return, shimmered right into the attic and crept down the stairs in an attempt to try and find you. I thought I had, when a man matching your description wandered across the hallway, but they were calling him 'Victor.'Then I saw him, you, older you, in your early 40s, obviously married, with kids to boot. I realised what you had done, fled to the past to escape the pain of returning to an unknown future. I shimmered out before anyone could see me. I was so confused, I didn't know who retained which memories, whether older you even recalled that you had a child, whether younger you even knew the truth of what went before.

It was when I first became ill that I started thinking about the future, and what would happen to our daughter after I was gone. She needs her father, Chris. A father who can devote all his time and energies to her, a father who can grow along side her. So I decided, if her father wasn't going to return to the future to be with her, then there was only one alternative, to send her back to the past to be with you.

I 'm sending her back to 2007, as I realise that your memories of the old future will still be fresh, yet you may also have had the opportunity to settle into your new life. My friend Laura is helping me. She has instructions that as soon as I am gone, she will take Leona, open up the portal, and send her back to you.

She knows who you are. Fuzzy memories of her past life, combined with the old photos that are forever present in our house, mean that she has not forgotten who her daddy is.

Whether you decide to remain in the past, or indeed return to the future, I only ask one thing from you; please look after our little girl, love her with all your heart, and tell her every night before she goes to sleep that Mummy will always be there in spirit, even though she can no longer be there in body.

All my love

Bianca


	4. Runaway Train

a/n: Just to warn you, this story will contain considerably fewer chapters than _Opening_ and _Letting_

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed, I only own Poppy, Rosie, Daz, Leona and my version of Ben!

**Spilling the Beans**

**Chapter 4 : Runaway Train**

Piper looked from the letter to the child, her mouth agape. Chris had a child. A daughter, who was here in her own living room, she had a granddaughter, _oh holy mother of god she was a **grandmother**._

"excuse me" a little voice interrupted Pipers rapidly escalating train of thought.

"Yes ?" Piper smiled awkwardly down at the child

"can I use your bathroom?"

"Yeah sure, it's this way" Piper took one tiny hand in her own, and lead Leona upstairs.

XXX

Over in golden gate park, Kyle and Paige could be found lazing on a blanket, watching Ben patiently attempt to play catch with Rosie.

"don't they look sweet" Paige commented

"Yeah" Kyle agreed "almost makes you want another one"

"are you insane?" Paige cried "I love my daughters more than life itself, but one is 6 months away from entering the terrible twos, and the other is running round town acting like a mini version of Kelly Osbourne, and you want to add to the collection?"

"okay, perhaps it was a bad idea"

"not a bad idea necessarily, more like a bad time"

"when would be a good time?"

"Oh I don't know, perhaps when Poppy snaps out of the teenage dirt bag routine? I mean, who on earth is this 'Daz' girl, what happened to Julia and Becky?..."

"uh Paige…"

"..look Kyle, I know what you're going to say, that we can't chose her friends, but the thing is.."

"…seriously Paige.."

"..girls are heavily influenced by the peers, I know I was, and deep down Poppy is very impressionable, so I think I ought to meet this girl, make sure she isn't the one wholly responsible for leading Poppy astray.."

"_Paige_" I

"what?"

"over there" Kyle indicated to a small knot of teenagers, sprawled on the grass, talking loudly and making rude remarks at passers by. Walking away from the group were Poppy, and a person who Kyle estimated to have been Daz. Catching Poppy's eye, he beckoned them to come over.

"looks like you got your chance" He told Paige.

XXX

Piper stood in the doorway to Wyatt's room. Leona, exhausted from attending her mothers funeral in the morning and her afternoon journey to the past had been napping in Wyatt's bed for the past hour.

The front door slammed shut. "Chris?" Piper called.

Not wanting to panic him or suggest that anything untoward was happening, she had left a voice mail on her eldest son's mobile, suggesting that he it may be in his best interests to return home sooner rather than later.

"No it's Leo" her husband replied as he jogged up the stairs toward the sound of her voice. "Hey" he spotted his wife. "I won by the way" he wrapped his arms round her waist.

"who's that ?" he pointed to the sleeping child.

"That is our, um, our, our, um…Chris's daughter"

"what?"

"From the future of course" Piper laughed nervously

"he had, _has,_ a _daughter_?"

"seems that way" She pushed him out into the hall, and closed the door so that he wouldn't wake the sleeping child.

"Does he know?"

"what? That he has a daughter?"

"That she's here!"

The front door slammed again "No" Piper looked toward the top of the stairs " but he will soon"

"Mom? Dad? You home?" Chris raced up the stairs "Guess what? Jen and I, we…." He trailed off, seeing his parents in an impromptu huddle on the landing.

"Chris" Piper attempted to rearrange her features into something that resembled happy, but ended up with more of a lopsided grimace.

"what's wrong?" He looked between the two of them.

"Sweetie" Piper lead him into her own bedroom, "I think you had better sit down"

"mum, you're scaring me, what's happened?"

"nothing, well ok, _something_, but before I say anything , you really need to read this" she handed him the letter.

"if you say so" Chris smoothed out the crumpled paper "Dear Chris…"

XXX

Paige was not an overly religious person. What little faith she did have in the catholic church had been lost the day her parents died. However watching her daughter and Daz approach in what felt like slow motion, she caught herself saying a few hail Mary's in a vain attempt to prevent what she inevitably thought was going to happen..

"Poppy" Kyle cried in an overly enthusiastic voice "how was the cinema?"

"s'alright" she grunted.

"good!" Kyle continued "though I don't believe we've been introduced to your friend here"

Poppy rolled her eyes "ugh, ok. Mum, Kyle, this is Daz, Daz, these are my parents"

''s'up' Daz offered by way of a greeting

Paige actually felt her knees sway a little. _It's okay_, she attempted to reassure herself, _just because Poppy has turned up with a Marilyn Manson lookalike, doesn't necessarily mean that_ ….

"we're going out" Poppy announced, enjoying the fleeting look of horror that flickered across her mother's face.

_Hope dashed._

XXX

Chris read the letter once, twice, three times. It was only then that he was fully able to comprehend the all the information contained within it.

Bianca was dead. After all that she put him through when she came back to the past, he was surprised that he felt as sorrowful as he did, but then, he had loved her, once upon a time. And the child, his little girl, he couldn't even begin to think about the enormity of that situation right now, especially as..

"Chris" His parents were staring at him, his mother's eyes full of concern.

"I,.." he was suddenly aware how high pitched his voice sounded.

"Are you ok?" Piper cupped his chin in her hand, he looked so much like a little boy right now, so forlorn that she wanted to cry.

"Do you want to go see her?" Leo asked

"No!" The word came out a lot more forcefully than he had intended. "I can't" he said in a slightly softer tone " I mean, I need sometime to think.."

"Peanut" Piper sat next to him " I know this is very difficult right now, and it is a lot to take in, but there is a little girl next door who has just lost her mother, and she needs you"

"But you don't understand!" he protested

"Try me" Piper insisted

"Okay……" he began.

XXX


	5. The Child

**Spilling the Beans**

**Chapter 5 :The Child**

"I was 18 and a half, when Bianca became pregnant – and before you start" Chris had a defensive tone to his voice, "_Yes_ it was an accident, and _yes_ it was irresponsible of us"

"I wasn't about to .." Piper began

"We didn't know what to do. I mean , we were both fighting in the resistance, what kind of life would that be for a child? As it was, abortion turned out not to be an option, she was further gone than we thought. When the baby was born, things were even worse, Bianca and I were both on Wyatt's 'Most Wanted' list, fugitives, instant gratification for any demon who caught us. Again, we wondered what to do for the best, we loved that child more than anything, but could we use that as justification to raise her in that kind of environment ?..my little Tina."

"Tina?" Piper asked "Who's Tina?"

Chris blushed slightly 'Christina Leona Halliwell…we wanted 'Piper', but it was already taken"

"by who?" Piper was curious in spite of everything

"not the time" Leo told his wife "so what did you do? Did you give her away?"

"No, we were selfish, we put our desire to keep her above her need to be safe, and some might say we were most justly punished…."

_Flashback_

_San Francisco, January - 2026_

"_Is she sleeping?" Chris asked as he entered the tiny kitchen of the flat he and Bianca were temporarily living in._

"_Out like a light." She replied " How was the meeting?"_

"_Informative, they got news that Wyatt's armys are planning on doing a strike in 2-days time,to try and take the eastern block of the city." _

"_Really? So soon?"_

"_Yes, so hopefully we'll get in a premptive strike and…" He trailed off as he was interrupted by a ominous buzzing sound that appeared to be coming from outside the kitchen window ._

" _was that….?" Bianca froze_

"… _a detector, Yes" He slammed his fist against the counter_

"_Get to the tunnels. **Now!**" Bianca screamed._

_Chris ran into the bedroom and picked up his sleeping daughter._

"_Come on baby" he cooed to the child " we're just going for a little walk"._

"_No, Daddy" the 2 year old protested weekly._

"_Yes angel", He gathered her in blankets_

"_Chris Hurry!" Bianca called from the doorway._

_The tunnels. A series of subterranean networks, deep beneath the city, not dissimilar to those on the London underground. They had been built many years ago with the plan that they could be used to expand San Fran's public transport network, an idea long since abandoned. They were mostly used now by members of the resistance to hide in during Wyatts attacks, as they were often out of range of his magic detectors._

"_Okay, pumpkin, just sit down here a second" He laid her down on a bench, covering her completely with a blanket to block out the chill. "close your eyes and try and get some sleep, and when you wake up you'll be back in your own bed again"_

"_pwomise?"_

"_promise" Chris kissed her forehead._

"_That was close" Bianca told him._

"_too close. Wyatt must have found out somehow, there's got to be a mole" Chris argued._

"_yes but who?"_

_The sounds of demonic warfare above head echoed through the underground caverns, pieces of earth falling slightly, as the thuds from above caused the roof to shake._

"_I don't know"_

_They sat in silence for 10 minutes, listening to the marching above ground, until eventually the sounds began to fade away._

"_do you think they've gone?" Bianca asked_

"_I'm not sure…" _

_Walls began shaking again, however it was different the time, the trembling wasn't coming from above, rather it was radiating from the far end of the tunnel._

"_Bianca" Chris' voice was low " when I count to 3 we need.."_

_Suddenly they were plunged into complete and utter darkness, the lamps had all been shattered in one single movement. Before Chris could react he felt a blow to his head and stomach, followed by someone grabbing him from behind. There was a scream a scuffle, and when the lights were eventually put back on, Chris found himself pinned against the wall by crystal lasers, Bianca, to his left being physically restrained by two men. Tina it seemed, still asleep beneath the blankets, had yet to be detected, having been easily mistaken for a pile of rags._

_The gentleman directing the lasers was Aralot, one of Wyatt's chief henchmen. Behind stood his Dark lighter Army, hundreds of them filling backwards as far as the eye could see._

"_Young Master Christopher" Aralot strolled forward "It would be so much easier for you if you answered Wyatt's calls"_

"_Never"_

"_He only wants to meet with you"_

"_But I don't want to meet with **him**, I've got nothing more to say"_

"_well that's not very fair now is it?"_

"_too bad"_

"_This is rather tiresome, anyway, shall we cut to the chase? He sent me to see if I could try and **persuade** you some how…"_

"_I will never join him, never"_

"_deary me that just won't do..perhaps this might change your mind?"_

_he flicked his wrist, and the men holding Bianca pushed her to the ground, one held her down, the other clicked his fingers and a large bow and arrow appeared in his hand. Chris knew that the darklighter arrow wouldn't be deadly to his fiancé, but it would be painful enough. The archer was took aim and was about to fire when.._

"_Mummy" Tina awoke, sat up, the blankets falling away. _

_Aralot turned, his face twisted into a cruel smile, "even better…" he nodded his head._

_Bianca made to raise her torso, but was struck with such a force by her captors that she immediately collapsed._

_A Dark lighters arrow, in the shoulder, piercing the milky whiteness of young skin. Deadly to all those who had whitelighter blood, but none more so than a defenceless child. There was no crying, no scream of pain, the light simply went out of the child's eyes as if a switch t had been turned off. Her body fell forward and landed on the floor with a soft thud._

_Chris wretched._

"_Consider yourself warned" Aralot taunted. "Come"_

_They dropped an unconscious Bianca onto the ground, and disappeared as quickly as they had come._

_The instant the crystal beams vanished Chris darted across the tunnel._

"_Tina! Tina!" He reached her, laying in a crimson circle of her own making, "Daddy's here, it's all going to be okay" He turned her over. The skin was cold and clammy, and even in the gloom of the tunnel he could see that it had already taken on a blueish tinge. Her eyes stared up at him. He hugged her too him, rocking her back and forth "It's all going to be okay now, baby, Daddy's here……"_

_End of flashback_.

"That's when I decided to come back to the past. It had been in the back of my mind for a while,but Tina dying………" Chris paused, he shook his head as if he were trying to rid himself of the memories.

" That was the catalyst, I'd already lost mum, aunt Paige, and too many other people that I cared about. I had to get away from the places that reminded me of my daughter, Yes, I ran away…I'm not proud of it, but I did, because if her death meant anything, it gave me the impetus to stop Wyatt, no matter what."

"But that's all in the past now, or rather the future that won't happen" Piper told him, "You've got a second chance.."

"What if I can't do it? I haven't seen her in 3 years, she was a baby when she died, and now suddenly she's 4 years old? What if she's changed, what if she isn't the same child? What if every time I look into her face I see that baby, dead on the floor? What if I can't love her again? "

"Chris.." Leo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"..i mean" Chris babbled "it's different now, even on a practical level, before it was me and Bianca, now it's just me..what if I let her down again? What if I don't deserve her? What if I' am not enough for her? .."

"Christopher" Piper stood in front of him, looking him square in the eye. "You're always looking for problems before they have happened"

"Hang up from demon fighting I guess"

"Look" Piper sat down next to him "This is going to sound incredibly cheesy, corny and clichéd, but I think you need to hear me out. When I found out that I was pregnant with Wyatt, I immediately felt a need to protect and nurture my child. Then, when he was born, the second I laid eyes on him, I was filled with this sudden over powering rush of love that until that day, I didn't think it possible to feel toward another human being. I'm sure you felt the same when Leona was born.

Chris nodded.

"It was different with you" Piper continued and she was sure she saw a hurt look flicker across Chris' face

"what I mean is, I experienced that rush of love the moment I saw _you_, adult you, when I realised that you were my son. It didn't matter that you hadn't been born yet, that you had issues with us all, or that you were less than a decade younger than me, all that mattered, was that you were my son. And it will be the same with you and Leona."

"You sure?"

"There's only one way to find out.." Leo told him

"Ok, just give me a minute to.."

" Daddy?" Leona stood in the doorway.

She had woken up to find herself in a strange bed in a strange room, in a strange house. Then she had remembered her 'walk' and meeting the nice lady who gave her a cookie. Climbing out of bed she realised that she was too small to open the door handle and had orbed into the hall. Following the sound of adult voices she saw that nice lady, and a man who she recognised from the photo that mummy kept showing her, and from the dream she kept having of a man like him who took her to the park once.

"Daddy?" she repeated nervously, noticing that all the eyes in the room were upon her.

Chris was staring at her in amazement. Piper prodded him in the ribs, "go to her" she hissed.

"Y Yes" Chris squeaked "I'm here" He took a step toward her " It's um, Daddy, and these" he gestured toward his parents "are Grandma and Grandpa"

"I have a Grandpa and Grandma?" Leona asked, as Piper shuddered slightly at the use of those terms.

"ugh Yes" Chris took another step forward and knelt down in front of her, his heart was beating in his ears, as he looked her in the eyes for the first time in 3 years. When she was a baby she had looked like Bianca, but now she seemed like a perfect mix of them both.

"so" he asked her, "Do I get a hug?"

XXX

TBC


	6. Unexpected Guests

**a/n: As I said before, I am unsure about people's reactions towards the various plot twists for Spilling the Beans, so all _constructive _comments about the narrative thread and general direction of this story are gratefully appreciated.**

**Disclaimer; I do not own charmed**

**Chapter 6: Unexpected Guests**

_**3 months later**_

On the first Tuesday in September, Jenny Gordon could be found walking eagerly up Prescott Street, smiling to herself in anticipation of seeing her boyfriend Chris.

She hadn't seen him in just over 3 months, ever since he left her house on the day of their second anniversary. He had send her a text the following day explaining that the Elders were sending him on an urgent fact finding mission into the underworld and he wouldn't be able to see her that week. A little perturbed that she wouldn't be able to spent time with him before she spent her summer holiday backpacking around western Europe , she nonetheless thought nothing more of it. They had exchanged emails, she had even phoned him once of twice, he'd sounded perfectly ok, though now she came to think he had seemed a little , what was the word she was searching for?.._preoccupied_, on occasion. Never matter, for today she was going to surprise him with a little visit of her own.

Approaching the end of the driveway, a sound of an argument brewing reached her ears by means of the open windows on the second story of the Halliwell manor.

"Care to explain young lady?" A voice, Paige's, was screaming.

"explain what?" came a sullen drawl that could only belong to Poppy.

"Why, when I emptied your blazer pocket, so that I could take your uniform to be dry cleaned ready for the start of school, I found a note, that I should have signed saying that I agreed with your suspension for the last 2 days of the last academic year."

"what suspension?" a male voice , Kyle's presumably, entered the foray.

"The one for smoking. The one that I had absolutely no idea about, and the one that evidently your daughter kept quiet from us"

"a 2 day suspension _just_ for smoking?.."

"I don't think she was smoking _tobacco_, Kyle"

"_Drugs?_ What were you thinking of? Apart from your own health, I'm a police officer for crying out loud, do you have any idea.."

Jenny sighed and opened the front door, she was used to just letting herself in, and Piper didn't mind. Finding both the hallway and the living room empty she carried on toward the sunroom.

Jenny was accustomed to seeing the Halliwell household full of kids. Between Ben, Rosie, Wyatt, Victor and all their little friends, and play mates, you could often expect to see a group of preschoolers playing in a corner of the house. Therefore she wasn't overly concerned when upon entering the sunroom she found Chris seated on an impossibly tiny plastic chair, participating in a dolls tea party which was being presided over by a little girl with long dark hair.

"Having fun?" she asked

"Jenny!" Chris exclaimed, in surprise and in doing so managed to spill the contents of his plastic tea cup down his jeans, which fortunately only contained apple juice.

The crashing sound of crockery hitting a flagstone floor also signalled that Piper, baking in the kitchen, had been alerted to the presence of the visitor.

"What are you doing here?" he squeaked

"Is that any way to greet your long lost girlfriend?" she leant over and gave him a kiss.

"I didn't think you were coming back until next week?" Chris stalled for time

"You thought wrong.." Jenny purred, "what do you say we.."

"Daddy" a small voice spoke up "who's _she_?"

"What the…?" Jenny snapped to attention

"Daddy, I said, who's she? Leona demanded, used to her fathers full attention being on her.

"Leona, please go into the kitchen and help Nana" Chris gave her a warning look.

"But.." She began

"_Now_ Leona, please" Chris didn't have time to argue, he turned back to his shocked girlfriend.

"Look Jen, I can explain.."

XXX

"Nana" Leona orbed into the next room to find Piper, a glass to the wall, listening intently.

"Nanny, what are you doing with the glass?" Leona asked, a little too loudly for Pipers' liking.

"Nothing, dear" Piper hastily replied, hoping that Chris hadn't heard.

On the whole Piper wasn't the kind of person who listened in on private conversations, unless of course it had anything remotely to do with her sons, in which case she was all ears. She desperately wanted to know what he was going to say to Jenny.

"Leo!" she hissed, as loudly as she could. "Leo!"

"what?" Leo orbed in, "Piper? What are you doing?"

"It's Jenny" His wife replied in a stage whisper "_She's.. in.. there_"

"oh" realisation dawned on Leo.

"Grandpa" Leona tugged at his trousers

"Hey pumpkin" he picked her up

"Does Nana always act crazy?" she asked.

_Flashback_

_2 ½ months previously_

_Leo entered the master bedroom, his wife had been awol for 30 minutes from a family luncheon and he had gone to investigate. To his surprise he found a Piper shaped mound buried under the bed covers._

"_Piper? What are you doing up here? I thought you were just going to change your jeans, that was over half an hour ago- are you okay?"_

"_I'm fine, I'm just thought I would freak out here a little bit by myself, not as to bother anyone, I'll be back down in a minute" Piper poked her head over the top of the duvet._

"_Freak out? What's wrong?" Leo looked concerned_

"_Nothing, well, nothing we can fix anyways"_

"_Piper?"_

"_It's just, if I start thinking about it, it's all too much"_

"_about what?"_

"_everything that's happened! One day the two of us are just another young newly married couple. Then we're a young couple with a baby, then bam we have a toddler, and a 22 year old, then we have a toddler, a baby, and an 18 year old, and now, all of a sudden we have a grandchild". _

"_Piper, we always wanted kids and a family, I know our set up is a little strange but.."_

"_Don't get me wrong I wouldn't change a hair on either of the boys heads, and I'm sure I will soon come to love Leona as if she were my own daughter, but it's all too much"_

"_how so?"_

"_I'm 35 this year Leo and already a grandmother! This kind of thing doesn't happen to people like us! I'm not mentally prepared for all this."_

"_Why didn't you say anything?"_

"_Because we have to be there for Chris, to be strong and support him, and I honestly will be fine, I just need time to process yet another enormous change in our lives…I need time to freak out and then get over it" _

"_and you've been feeling like this for how long?"_

"_since last week"_

"_Piper, you shouldn't have kept it all to yourself"_

"_I know, but please go back downstairs leo, I'll be down in a minute, I'll be fine honestly"_

"_If it is any consolation, you're the prettiest grandmother I know"_

"_Leo!" She threw a pillow at him._

"_Just saying" he gave her a kiss, "don't be too long"_

"_I won't."_

_End of flash back._

Leo smiled, " she does lately, why don't you go outside and play with Wyatt and Ben?"

"'kay " she grumbled "but they always make me play action men"

XXX

Upstairs, Paige and Kyle's attempt to reason with Poppy had ended with more shouting and door slamming.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take" Paige confessed as she watched Kyle put Rosie down for her nap.

"The idiot of a boyfriend, the funeral attire, I can just about put up with all that, it's the lying that I can't stand"

"And now the drug taking it seems" Kyle added " I still can't believe that she would be so stupid"

"I think, or rather hope, it was just a one-off, an experiment"

"who knows what she's capable of these days"

"anyway I was thinking, could you go ask the Elders permission…I want to summon my mum"

"Why do you want the Elder's permission? You summon your mother all the time!"

"Not my mum _Patty_, my adoptive mum, the mortal.."

"Why do you want to speak to her?"

"To ask her advice! I want to know how she dealt with me, as I wasn't exactly a saint back in the day either"

"Okay" Kyle agreed, "I'll go ask them, you never know they might agree, an out of control teenage witch doesn't bode well for them either, she might end up exposing magic. Then where would we be?"

"couldn't get much worse than this" Paige grumbled.

XXX

"TWO YEARS CHRISTOPHER, AND NOT ONE MENTION OF A CHILD, TWO YEARS!" Jenny bellowed.

"Jen.."

"Don't 'Jen' me, how could you keep something like this from me?"

Chris was unsure how to respond. Jenny knew the basics about magic, she had been enlightened out of necessity and practicality, especially as the little ones couldn't be trusted not to orb/shimmer/generally practice magic in front of her. She hadn't been told however about time travel, nor had she been told about the fact that Chris was from the future and that he and Victor were biologically speaking, the same person, so the excuse 'well Jen, she hasn't even been conceived yet.." wouldn't really apply in this case.

He went with a half truth "It's a fairly recent thing.."

"Recent? She's 4 years old if a day!"

"No, I mean.."

"who's her mother?"

"You won't know her"

"Huh? What too scared to tell me? Frightened that I'll go round there and ask her what's going on?"

"No, Jenny listen to me.." Chris touched her arm

"I thought I knew you Chris"

"You do know me!"

"well, the Chris I _knew_, didn't have a 4 year old daughter, which means you either jumped ship on her, and shied away from your responsibilities, which seems the most likely, as we spent all our spare time together and you never mentioned her, or you were seeing both me, and her mother at the same time. Which is it to be, because to be honest with you, I don't think I like either scenario."

Chris hesitated…

Piper hovered near the door to the sunroom eavesdropping and trying very hard not to jump in there and defend her baby boy.

The phone rang

"Phoebe?" Piper picked up the receiver "Phoebe the line isn't very good…what?..no I can't hear…Cole did _what_?...No! Really?... He's telling the truth?...Of course…uh-huh…oh sweetie..no you did the right thing…..no come home we'll….."

"STAY AWAY FROM ME" Jenny stormed toward the front door

"..okay..gotta go…see you in a bit..bye" Piper hung up.

"JENNY" Chris made to run after her as Jenny marched out of the house "mum, watch Leona for me, I have to go after Jenny"

"Chris.." Piper came out of the kitchen

"Please mum, don't argue.." Chris had reached the hallway "I'll be back as soon as I can"

He opened the door, and practically fell over an old lady who had been poised ready to knock.

"sorry" Chris stumbled forward

"That's alright my dear, it's my fault really I should have.."

"sorry, I have to go, my mum will help you though..MUM, VISITOR, go on in" he dashed down the front walk way.

"Chris?" Piper came out to greet the guest.

"I'm sorry to impose myself on you like this, but my grandson just moved in across the street and he said that..." The woman began.

"..that's ok" Piper lead her to an arm chair, "why don't you sit down there and make yourself comfortable and.."

"Thank you..I.."

Both women paused suddenly, a feeling of remembrance washing over the pair of them.

"It's you!" the old lady exclaimed, looking Piper up and down, "you came, a couple to years ago to see me.."

"That's right I did" Piper smiled awkwardly "It's nice to see you again Lillian".

XXX

TBC


	7. Conversations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed**

**Chapter 7: Conversations**

_Golden Gate Park , 30 minutes previously_

"So I thought that the invitations could be on white card with silver writing, and that way they can reflect the table settings for the wedding breakfast, and then.." Phoebe babbled on, to a disinterested Cole who sat rocking Paloma back and forth.

"Ok"

"….which will also match the theme of peace and light and…"

"uh-huh"

Phoebe paused "and then I thought I would run down the aisle naked"

"whatever you say dear"

"Cole!"

"what?"

"You haven't been listening to a word I've said, isn't this wedding important to you?"

"Of course it is"

"Really? Because you don't sound particularly enthusiastic"

"it's just, all this organising , it's not really my thing"

"It's not mine either, but someone has to do it"

"I know, but all you seem to talk about these days is about place settings and fabric colours, that you seem to be in an enormous rush "

"A Rush? Are you trying to tell me that you don't want us to get married anymore?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'd marry you tomorrow if I could"

Phoebe appeared to consider this "Then why don't we?"

"What?" Cole finally pulled his eyes away from Paloma

"Why don't we? We could elope, me , you , Ben and Paloma, we could go off somewhere this weekend, just the 4 of us, and get married"

"I don't think so"

"why not? You just said that it's all the planning that's getting you down"

"It is"

"well then, what's your problem?"

"Nothing.."

"Or do you not love me anymore, is that it?"

"No! Phoebe don't ever say that, you're the love of my life"

"so help me out then Cole, what on earth is stopping us from doing something crazy and driving to Vegas"

"it wouldn't be right"

"Not right? To get married in Vegas?- Cole you do know that when you get married in Vegas you are married everywhere, despite what the rumours may say"

"No it's that …"

"If this is because you're a demon then let me tell you..…"

"…it's because I'm already married",

XXX

The manor

Paige lit the last candle, stepped back, ran a hand through her hair, smoothed an imaginary crease out of her skirt and took a deep breath. She didn't know why she was so nervous, these were her parents, the two people who knew her the best out of any one. Or used to …

"Spirits from the other side

Come to me, though mortals be,

Cross now the great divide"

The familiar bright white lights filled the room, quickly disappearing to reveal Mr and Mrs Mathews.

"Paige!" They exclaimed in tandem, both quite clearly surprised to find themselves on the earthly plain once again.

"step out of the circle" Paige instructed

"wow" they goggled as they found themselves becoming corporialised.

"mum, dad" Paige flung herself into their arms, much like she had done on their previous, very fleeting visit to the past.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" her mother asked "It must be something serious for you to have brought us down here"

"It's just.." Paige felt tears build up at the sound of her mothers comforting voice "…I don't know what to do, it's all such a mess…" she hiccupped

"Come on now," her father soothed, "nothing is ever that bad, what's been going on?"

"well, how much do you know about my life, how much do you peek?"

"To be honest, not that much" her mother told her "after we came back to visit you that once, and reassured you that we loved you, and reassured ourselves that you were happy and healthy, we took a slight step back. It's not that easy for us to peek, being former mortals."

"mum" A voice interrupted the conversation. Poppy stood in the door frame, Rosie balanced on her hip

"I thought you were in your room, seeing as you are in effect grounded" Paige quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"yeah, right" Poppy strolled into the room "Rosie needed her nappy changing" she handed her sister over to her mother.

"couldn't you do it just this once?"

"Nope"

"well, as you're here, you can meet your grandparents"

"mum, I know you think I am stupid, but I'm not _that_ stupid, Grandma has brown hair for one thing, and I doubt grandpa had time to have a face transplant between when I saw him this morning and just now"

" Poppy Halliwell you would try the patience of most of the evangelical hierarchy, these are Grandma and Grandpa _Matthews_"

"Riiiight, nice to meet you" Poppy drawled, unenthusiastically as Mr and Mrs Mathews stared at her open mouthed. Paige wasn't sure whether they were shocked by the thought of the baby they thought had died all those years ago was in fact alive, or by the ensemble of fashion atrocities that Poppy was calling clothes for today.

The theme tune to "Friends" filled the room, 'excuse me" Poppy fished around in her pocket and retrieved her mobile " Hey Daz….."

"..and there goes the reason why I summoned you" Paige gestured toward her eldest daughters retreating back, as she tried to wrestle a squirming Rosie into a fresh nappy.

"a chip off the old block I see" Mr Matthews gave his daughter a knowing smile.

"Isn't she just" Paige grimaced.

XXX

"Yes you're quite right I did come and see you a couple of years ago" Piper glanced nervously at the hall, praying that Leo would stay out of the way until she managed to get rid of Lillian.

" you were asking questions about my first husband Leo" Lillian continued, oblivious to the discomfort of her host.

"Indeed I was" Piper agreed

"and how was the article?" Lillian enquired

"what article?"

"the one you were researching about World War II War veterans"

"oh that article, it was um, some of my best work" Piper hoped that she hadn't started to flush bright red, because she felt awfully hot.

"It's a strange coincidence that we should meet like this again, it's because of Leo that I am here" Lillian probed.

"Really?" Piper gave a high pitched laugh.

"Yes, it's funny, I always kept a small framed photograph of Leo on the wall in my house, so all the family know what he looked like. Anyway, my grandson and his wife have just moved in across the street, and on more than one occasion now they have sworn that they have seen a man who looks exactly like Leo Wyatt coming out of your house."

"That _is_ funny.." Piper desperately tried to think of an excuse.

"hmm, but I thought I would come and see, you probably think I am very foolish"

"No..no.. I don't" Piper was a little distracted.

"I thought…"

"Piper, have you seen the baby Calpol?" Leo entered, baby Victor resting on his shoulder.

"My god, Leo?" Lillian gasped

"Yes..?" Leo replied unwittingly, not recognising his guest, who was staring at him open mouthed in shock.

"It's me" The old lady cried

"I'm sorry who…."Leo paused, and looked carefully at the woman "Lily? Is that really you?"

XXX

TBC


	8. There is always a reason

**Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed**

**Chapter 8 : There is always a reason…**

"I still don't see why you aren't making with the memory dust" Piper, Victor perched on her hip, slammed 3 mugs and saucers onto a tray in the kitchen.

"Because as I have said millions of times – memory dust is unpredictable, you don't know what you can be erasing. Besides, she was my wife, she deserves more respect than that" Leo replied calmly as he waited for the kettle to boil

"Your wife! Oh silly me, here's me thinking that as your current wife, I get a say in the whole thing" Piper plastered on a fake smile as she turned and waved through the window to Ben, Leona and Wyatt who were still playing in the garden.

"Piper" Leo, faced his wife "Are you telling me that you are jealous of an 84 year old woman?"

"No…" Pipers eyes were cast downwards, betraying the true feelings

"Piper, she _was_ my wife, and yes once upon a time in a different lifetime I was in love with her, but it was a different kind of love. You are the one I meant to be with, you are my soul mate, the mother of my children, and as such I would like to think that should the situation be in reverse, you would wish to be treated with some respect."

Not waiting for an answer, Leo turned on his heal and carried the tray into the living room. "here you go Lily" he handed the elderly lady a cup of tea. "there's extra sugar in that"

"Thank you, I think I need it"

Piper, cuddling Victor slipped back into the room and perched silently on the end of the opposing sofa.

"you look just the same you know, as that day you came to me in my dream and told me to move on with my life"

"I guess I do"

"well, perhaps a tiny bit older….it wasn't a dream though was it?"

"No, I made you think it was a dream"

"So how are you still here?"

Leo took a deep breath "I'm still here because, I'm an angel"

"An Angel!" Lillian laughed "oh Leo, do you honestly expect me to believe such a thing?"

"Well how do you expect him to be here in front of you after 60 years" Piper snapped

"Piper!"

"I don't know" Lillian said, "I hadn't thought about it, I was just so excited at seeing you again"

"Lily" Leo began, "Do you believe in Magic?"

XXX

Phoebe came flying through the manor front doors, barely acknowledging the people in the living room, she barrelled on up the stairs, clutching her baby daughter to her chest and headed toward her bed room.

"Phoebe, will you just listen to me?" Cole shimmered in in front of her

"I have nothing to say to you, I don't even want to see you right now" she stormed past him.

"I can explain.."

"of course you can, you always have an answer for everything don't you"

"Phoebe.."

"No, I will not let you 'Phoebe' me! I should have listened to my sisters about you"

"what?"

"They always said, that you couldn't be trusted"

"You can trust me"

"Ha! Yeah right, here's me organising our wedding, and you can't even tell me that you are already married."

"I was going to tell you"

"what ? when the minister asked if there was any reason why we should not be lawfully married, were you going to stand up and go ..um yes actually, it would be bigamy seeing as how I am already hitched"

"I was waiting for the right moment"

"Yeah, well the right moment may have been _before_ you proposed!"

"Please" Cole grabbed her arm "Just hear me out…"

"Fine" Phoebe snapped his arm away from her "But only because this effects Ben and Paloma, because trust me Mister, if it was just the 2 of us, you would be out of that door so fast.."

"I know" they both sat down on the bed. "It all began 4 years ago.."

XXX

"She is so cute, yes she is, yes she is" Mr Matthews bounced Rosie on his lap, only half listening to the long and quite frankly baffling explanation as to how their eldest grandchild had come back into Paige's life, and her sudden volt-face from charming school girl into teenage hell raiser.

"..and I just don't know what to do mum" Paige told her adoptive mother.

"I think the first thing you need to do is figure out the root of the problem, why is she acting this way to begin with, is she rebelling against you or just society in general?"

"I have no idea. I mean I know why, I started rebelling, I was on my whole searching for my identity kick, I was angry at my birth parents for abandoning me, I felt like I didn't know who I really was,…then it just escalated, but that can't be what's bugging Poppy, she knows who she is.."

"Maybe she feels displaced by Rosie?"

"No, Kyle and I were very careful about that, besides, apart from the whole nappy thing earlier, it seems that these days Rosie is the only person she genuinely likes. I caught her playing with her the other day, she didn't know I was watching and for 5 minutes it was like the old Poppy, or rather 'Jo' was back. With everyone else she just grunts or scowls.."

"If it's any consolation" her father began "You eventually grew out of it and did well for yourself."

"Dad!" Paige exclaimed "Without wishing to state the obvious, my rebellion was cute short by me falling pregnant, and you two dying, I was hoping to avoid such drastic measures this time round."

"Look Paige" her mother interrupted "The most important thing we learnt, is not to let it show that it bothers you. Do you remember Tim Havers?"

"Yeah, god, he was an absolute idiot, used to drive me mad"

"Yet you went out with him for 3 months, remember why?"

"no…"

"Because your father saw him once when he collected you from school and made a comment about him being a complete waste of space, and lo and behold, who do you announce you're dating the following week.."

"ah yes, I'd forgotten about that…."

"So, this Daz, have you and Kyle said anything about him in front of Poppy?"

"um, Kyle once mentioned in the heat of an argument that if he had to line all of the 15 year-old males in San Francisco up and place them in order of eligtability for his daughters boyfriend, that Daz would be at the back of the queue smoking a joint and painting his nails, and he would actually rather that Poppy was a lesbian.."

"Oh dear" Mrs Matthews shook her head "You're looking at a minimum 6 months relationship in this case."

"You could try grounding her?" Mr Matthews suggested

"Dad, she can orb. And we don't like putting anti-orbing force fields around the children's rooms in case a demon attacks"

"Yeah I was forgetting about the magic thing" he looked down at Rosie, who as if on cue orbed herself into Mrs Matthews lap.

"And, it's not just about him, what about the smoking, the lying, the sneaking out, the skipping school, the cutting-up of the clothes I buy her ….."

"Do you have a pen and paper?" Mr Matthews asked "because we have our methods, not that they ever worked on you, but you could give them a try"

"Please, anything!" Paige begged.

XXX

"It was 4 years ago, Ben was a baby, and we had just rejoined the mortal world, and I was feeling rather lonely,…anyway, I met this woman, Caroline was her name, and she seemed fairly nice, it was not a great love affair but I was acutely aware that Ben needed a mother figure, and we got on well.."

"um hang on, did you not think that when Ben needed a mother figure that you may wished to have contacted his actually mother, as in me?"

"Phoebe! I've told you before, I didn't want to open up that particular can of worms, plus we were trying to stay off the magic raidar. So Caroline and I decided to get married when Ben was a couple of months old. We had some good times, but we soon realised that neither of us was in it for the long hall, and then she changed, she suddenly started acting very weird, very distant. Then one day she just upped and left, without a word. Which is why I am still married to her, we never had time to get a divorce. I've spent the past year trying to track her down and get her to sign the divorce papers. I have no idea where she is, we have contact through out lawyers only, but every time the papers are sent, she returns them to me unsigned with scribble all over them."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this" Phoebe asked, after a few moments of contemplation.

"Because at first I thought I could get a quickie divorce, and then by the time I realised that Caroline was going to drag this out you were pregnant with Paloma and I didn't want to worry you"

"Cole, our entire relationship needs to be founded on trust, and if I can't trust you to tell me something like this then how do I know what else you might be keeping from me?"

"There is nothing else, I swear"

"That's as maybe but it still doesn't make me feel any better"

"I know, but it was a long time ago, and she really did mean nothing to me"

"Perhaps we have been rushing things"

"what?"

"With the wedding and everything, perhaps this is a good thing, after all now that we can't get married, it might give me time to think about things properly and consider if I truly want to marry you now …"

XXX

"..and so I have been a guardian angel ever since" Leo concluded.

"That's quite something" Lillian admitted."so you have a whole new life now?"

" Yes, this is my wife Piper" Leo motioned to the eldest Charmed One, "I believe you have already met?"

"Yes, she came to see me a few years ago"

"and that is our youngest son Victor" he pointed to the baby who was wriggling round on his mothers lap "and.."

The front door slammed and Chris rushed in "Mum, Dad" he shouted " I spoke to Jenny…."

XXX

TBC

**a/n: This story may be going on a hiatus for personal reasons, I'll try and update as much as I can though in the meanwhile**.


	9. Past Woes and Future Issues

**Disclaimer: I do not own chamred**

**Chapter 9: Past Woes and Future Issues**

"You spoke to Jenny? What did you say?..." Leo asked

"I, ugh, told her the truth" Chris mumbled

"The truth?" Leo balked

"I hope by truth you don't mean the whole truth Christopher" Piper had a warning note in her voice.

"um…."

_-----------------------------------------------Flashback--------------------------------------------_

_30 minutes previously – UC Berkley_

"_So talk" Jenny eyeballed her boyfriend as they sat on a bench in the middle of the quadrangle_

"_It's not that easy" Chris began_

"_Oh, have I not given you enough time to think of a suitable excuse?" she drawled_

"_excuse?" Chris looked confused_

"_excuse for why you never mentioned that you had a daughter, excuse for why you walked out on her, your excuse for.."_

"_Jen, just listen to me"_

"_why should I , what reason could you possibly give me that doesn't make you seem like an irresponsible father, I've been up to your room there's not one photo of her in there, no one ever mentions her, how could you be so cruel as to neglect your own child?"_

"_..she doesn't exist yet!" Chris blurted in frustration "the reason I never mentioned her before is because technically she hasn't been conceived yet."_

"_what the hell are you talking about?"_

"_She is from the future, about 20 years or so to be exact"_

"_Christopher Halliwell, all I want is for you to be honest with me, and you can't even do that"_

"_I am telling the truth, she is from the future." He paused, ".as am I"_

"_you are in cloud cuckoo land" Jenny made to stand up " you expect me to believe that time travel is really possible?"_

"_Why not? You believed me when I explained about magic"_

"_Yes, and if you remember it took me a while to get my head around that, but I don't know, I guess on some level I could understand it, but time travel? You can't keep your trousers on so you concoct some stupid story that has us all staring in some bizzaro version of Back to the Future?"_

"_Wait" Chris grabbed her arm "You have to listen to me, I am from the future, I came back in time 4 years ago to help save my brother, and I ended up staying"_

_Jenny looked at him, properly for the first time, his jaw was set, there was a pleading look in his eyes "You're serious aren't you?" a look of horror spreading across her face._

"_Yes" _

"_b..but..how..and…"_

"_I know it's a lot to take in, but, as I said, I am from the future, and so is Leona, but she is from a slightly different future than me, I mean a changed better future, and…"_

" _so are you telling me that everything you have ever told me is a lie? That I have been going out with a person who isn't even born yet"_

"_no..I have been born.."_

"_Then….?"_

"_My baby brother Victor…Yeah he is technically me"_

"_oh my god, I'm going out with a 2 year old! That's just wrong and disgusting and wrong and…"_

_---------------------End Flash back------------------------------------------------------_

"…and then we argued some more, and then she stormed off again, and the end result is that I think we have broken up for good this time" Chris concluded.

"are you crazy?" Piper shouted

"mum!"

"don't you 'mum' me, how can we trust that silly little girl won't go running round and expose you"

"silly little girl? I thought you liked Jenny"

"Yes, well, I"

"In the eyes of a mother no girl is ever good enough for her son" Lillian interrupted

"who the?.." Chris noticed the elderly lady

"excuse us, Lily" Leo pushed his wife and son toward the kitchen

"very subtle dad, bring us out here so that we can argue without upsetting the guest"

"There is nothing to argue about Chris, your mother is right, I think you made a mistake in telling Jenny about the whole time travel thing, we may have to use the memory dust"

"Oh that's right, you'll use the memory dust on her, but not on your beloved first wife" Piper snapped

"Piper I've told you.."

"ew..dad that old lady was your wife?" Chris recoiled

"

"surely I must have mentioned her when you were growing up?" Leo asked

"yeah but.." Chris blushed "I kinda blocked it out, I don't like to think of you and mum being in love with anyone else other than each other..corny as it sounds"

"As mushy as that is Christopher , you are still not off the hook" Piper told him

"I'd better get over there and sort it out, ½ a pinch should do it, enough to wipe out today, yesterday and possibly a little bit of last week too" Leo stood up

"But that still means I have to explain about Leona somehow"

"Yes, but perhaps now you will have a bit of time to come up with an effective cover story" Piper replied

"I hate all this, I hate this lying too people I care about"

"That's part of the sacrifice you made when you decided to stay in the past" Leo said

"are you saying I should have gone back to the future?"

"No, I'm not saying that at all, I 'm saying is that you knew at times it would be difficult"

"well I didn't expect my dead child to reappear either"

"But she did, and now you have to be the grown up and deal with that even if it means loosing Jenny, your daughter should mean more to you than a bit of skirt, and I am not having a second generation of Halliwells being brought up by their Grandmother because their father finds things difficult" Piper shook her finger at him.

"Excuse me" Lillian appeared in the door to the kitchen "I think I will leave now, it sounds as if you need sometime to discuss matters"

"yes we do" Piper replied

"Sorry about all this Lily" Leo apologised "It was lovely to see you again, but could I ask that you keep the whole magic thing to yourself?"

"of course I can" the old lady assured him "On one condition…."

XXX

"……….I don't want to go the stupid house warming party" Chris sulked as

3 weeks later and a suited and booted Halliwell clan strolled over the road toward the neighbours house.

"neither do I , but Lillian wanted to us to meet her family and I said yes. Besides, even if she hadn't have invited us personally, her grandson put flyers in every mail box in the street, so we probably would have gone anyway"

" Chris, just when exactly are you going to lift yourself out of this mood you have been in?" Piper asked, getting a little irritated as her youngest sons constant bad mood. After Leo had altered Jenny's memory, Chris had gone round to explain about Leona, telling Jenny that his daughter was the result of a previous relationship and he had only just found out about her. Unfortunately, even without the time travelling angle, Jenny had still insisted on breaking up with him, this time citing unwillingness to take on a responsibility for a child as the reason.

"when I feel like it" Came the response.

"Has some one died?" Leona asked her second cousin as they plodded down the street.

"Not yet" Poppy responded "Why?"

"Because Daddy is in a real bad mood and you are wearing black"

"I like black" Poppy snapped, pulling her hoody even closer round her.

"Looks like quite a lot of people have turned up" Paige commented as they walked through the front door which had been left wide open.

"I'm so glad you could come" Lillian greeted them enthusiastically.

"wouldn't have missed it" Leo winked.

"Daddy look there's a sandpit and a slide!" Wyatt pointed out to the children's play area which could be seen in the back garden "Can we go play?"

"Yeah can we?" Ben chimed in

"Okay, but stick together" Phoebe told them as Ben, Wyatt, closely holding Victors hand and Leona, holding Rosie's all wandered off in the direction of the fun.

"Leo, have you actually met my grandson James?" Lillian signalled toward the home-owner who was now making his way toward them

"No, not at all" Leo grinned and extended an arm "how do you do?"

"Very well thank you" James replied "Do you know, you look like the spitting image of Grandma's first husband, he was a Leo too, Leo Wyatt, are you a relation?"

"Leo Wyatt" Leo feigned innocence " ah, I believe he may have been my great-uncle on my father's side"

"ah, that's where the resemblance comes from, you must introduce me to your charming family, seeing as we are all neighbours now"

"This is my wife Piper, and her sisters Phoebe and Paige, and their partners Cole and Kyle, my older son Christopher, and niece Poppy, the little ones have all gone to play in the sand pit.."

"Nice to meet you all, quite a crowd in your house, just me and my wife knocking about in ours for the moment, although you never know what might happen in the future,…where has she got to? Sweetheart have you disappeared?"

"I'm coming" a willowy blond with tanned skin and dazzling blue eyes, slowly made her way through the crowd, coming to stop at her husbands side. "Hi" she smiled.

"Sweetheart, these are the Halliwells, we have Leo, Piper, Paige, Phoebe, Kyle, um, Christopher and er..sorry I forget….?" James gestured toward Cole

"It's Cole" Cole supplied "but that's okay" His eyes narrowed "Caroline and I have already met…………."

XXX

TBC


	10. The eXFactor

**a/n: I'm back! I have just read back over the past few chapters and I realise that the pace has been a little slow, please bear with it, it will quicken, there are only a few chapters left and there's quite a bit to get through!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed.**

**Chapter 10 : The (e)X – Factor**

"I'm sorry I think you have me confused for someone else" Caroline stated, a little too emphatically.

"I think not" Cole replied coolly

A brief silence fell over the small group, each wondering how the conversation would proceed. Piper was confused, she felt as if she had seen this woman before but couldn't quite place her.

"Honey, is something going on here?" James asked confused

"Nothing" Caroline told her husband, and she would have been convincing too had Paige noticed that her right hand was clenched in a fist, as if trying to suppress anger.

The tension was palpable, Caroline for whatever her reasons maybe, wanted to hide her former association with Cole, Cole in turn looked as if it was taking all his self-control not to rush forward and start shouting at her, and Phoebe was desperately trying and failing to get a read from the woman. Piper, suddenly realised where she knew this woman from, she was the lady who had shown up at the manor the day Leona had arrived.

"Daz!" Kyle cried, breaking the bizarre Mexican stand off, for once in his life pleased at the arrival of the idiot of his eldest daughters' boyfriend. "Good to see you!" He continued as Daz made his way toward the group.

"Geez Kyle, never mind about me, have you been smoking something illegal?" Poppy drawled at the fake enthusiasm her father was showing toward Daz.

Daz, whose indeterminable facial expression remained the same merely grunted a hello at Kyle and Paige before turning to Poppy "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah" Poppy replied, as the pair ambled off to the garden.

In the meanwhile, Leo had used the distraction to talk to Lily "Look" he told her "could you get James to leave Cole and Caroline alone to talk ?"

"But I thought they didn't know each other?" the old lady puzzled

"trust me, they do, I'm not sure what's happening, but it needs to be sorted"

"um, James" Lily raised her voice "could you go down to the cellar and bring up another crate of wine I think we're running out"

"But.." he protested, unsure of the silent communication that seemed to be occurring between his wife and one of the new neighbours.

"Please" Lilian insisted.

"Okay.." he allowed himself to be lead away reluctantly by his grandmother, while Cole and Caroline continued to stare each other down.

"So now he's gone, would you like to tell me what the hell you are playing at?" Cole asked, a steely note to his voice, something which Phoebe hadn't heard since his demon days.

"Actually no" Caroline made to move past, Cole grabbed her arm "I would rethink that decision if I were you"

"Let go of my arm or I will scream this house down, don't think that I won't"

Cole dropped her arm, "Thank you" She stalked off

"Caroline" Cole ran after her, Phoebe close on his heals.

"What is all that about?" Paige asked

Kyle shrugged "Hey what's _that_ about?" He gestured toward the patio doors, where on the otherside stood Poppy and Daz, clearly in the throes of an argument, arms waving and gestures being made.

"I don't know, I can't hear from this far away" Paige strained to listen.

"I wish I knew who started it, I need to know whether to rush over and defend my little girl's honour, or go and congratulate her for standing up for herself."

"Um, Kyle honey, your 'little girl' will be 15 next birthday, and trust me would not appreciate you going over there to 'defend her honour'. If you want to defend your daughters' honour , I'm sure Rosie will let you"

"Do you think they will split up?" Kyle pondered

"no" Paige replied " we aren't that lucky.

---

"Good job we got Lily to take James away, I thought Cole was going to explode back there" Leo whispered to Piper

"Yeah Good old lily" Piper drawled

"um, I'm going to check on the kids" Chris fled toward the sand pit , sensing that a confrontation was brewing between his parents.

"Piper seriously, get over it! This isn't grab a granny night, do you honestly think that I am about to start an affair?"

"no" said Piper in a small voice, the flush on her face indicating otherwise

"I love you! And as attractive as the flush of all this jealousy makes you, it has got to stop!"

"well stop mentioning her then, it's Lily this, and Lily that and I know its stupid because she is older than Grams, but I just can't help it, and.."

Piper was silenced by Leo grabbing her and pulling her into a passionate embrace

"Convinced?" Leo asked when they finally separated

"…maybe.." Piper raised a coy eyebrow. "perhaps you ought to try again"

Cole followed Caroline through the ground floor and up the stairs towards the first floor landing. She darted left into an empty bedroom, Cole in hot pursiut . Phoebe rounded the corner just in time to see him cross the thresh hold, pushing the door shut behind him. The middle charmed one crept up to the doorway, and peeked through the 2 inch gap that had been left.

"What on earth is went on downstairs?" Cole demanded of Caroline who was staring serenely out of the window.

"Calm down Cole, its not good for your blood pressure – are you still on those tablets?"

"My blood pressure!" Cole screeched "You stood there and denied even knowing me, making it out to hubby dearest as if I was on day release from the loony bin, and now you're enquiring after my health! Though speaking of your new husband, how did you manage that exactly? Given that you are in fact still married to me, as you have spent months refusing to sign divorce papers."

Caroline merely gave him an enigmatic grin. "oh Cole, always with your head so full of legal matters"

"You're married to two different people Caroline!"

"Not really, not on paper anyway, you married Caroline Parry, James married Caroline Windsor"

"wow you are so clever, inventing a new surname, because its not as if you would ever get found out" Cole drawled sarcastically

"How is Ben?" she asked, abruptly turning the conversation

Cole fumed "None of your business"

"Cole, I did help raise him for 18 months!"

"He is fine" Cole grudgingly admitted

"good" Her tone was neutral

"Why won't you sign my divorce papers?" Cole was fed up with avoiding the issue.

"She doesn't mind looking after him then?" Caroline it appeared was happy to keep evading the matter.

"Who?"

"This woman you seem to be in a desperate hurry to marry"

"She's his mother, so no she doesn't mind"

"I thought you said she was dead?"

Phoebe, very nearly gave herself away by cursing loudly, but fortunately she thought the better of it. Instead she resolved to have a little word with Cole when all this was over.

" I lied, but you're not above doing that yourself, now the papers"

"No"

"Caroline, I don't know what you hope to achieve by this or quite frankly nor do I care , just sign the damn things"

"I said no"

"what do you want huh?" Cole began to loose his cool, he took a step toward her, closing he gap between them "do you want me to go downstairs and tell your husband that his pretty little wifey is a bigamist?"

It was then that Phoebe saw it. Caroline was standing stock still, her arms folded behind her back, and there in the palm of her left hand appeared what looked to be a fireball, it was small, no bigger than an orange, and the flames had a purplish shade to them. She began bouncing the ball, gently up and down, the movement was discreet , as not for Cole to notice what she was doing.

"You wouldn't dare" She challenged him, leaning closer to look him in the eyes

"I would" Cole told her

The fireball bounced a little higher.

"Cole" Phoebe knocked loudly on the door , "Cole could I have a word" She barged into the room,

"Are you okay?" Cole asked, snapping apart from Caroline, concerned at the look on his Phoebe's face.

"Fine" Phoebe replied her voice still several octaves higher than normal, sneaking a look at Caroline who seemed to have extinguished the fireball, "But, Ben needs you"

"Alright" Cole gave her a puzzled look "This isn't over" he told Caroline

"Oh you can be sure of it" She smirked

"What's wrong with Ben?" He asked as Phoebe rushed him across the landing and down the stairs. "tell you in a second" Phoebe continued, as they made their way back to the living room.

"okay" she said, as soon as the adults of the Halliwell clan were all assembled together "Caroline is a demon.." she announced in hushed tones.

"now sweetie I know you don't like her.." Paige began

"No, she seriously is a demon, trust me, an oddly coloured fireball conjuring demon"

"ah crap" Piper moaned

"Phoebe" Cole interrupted, "I think I would have noticed if my former wife was a demon!"

"Really Cole?" she questioned him " I dated you for 6 months and had no idea that you were a demon, Chris hid the fact that he was half-witch for nearly a year, I hid my powers from Jason for nearly 2 years, I think we have all established that magical and demonic tendencies can be hidden should a person wish to do so."

"right, Chris!" Piper called, gesturing for her son to come join them "You orb me and Phoebe back home please we need to check the B.O.S, Cole, you keep an eye on Caroline, make sure that she doesn't suspect that we know anything about her demonic connections, Leo, go stock up on the memory dust, we may need it on the rest of the guests, Paige, Kyle, stay with the kids, and mingle, don't make it look obvious that we have all left en masse"

* * *

"I mean honestly" Phoebe exclaimed as she thumbed throw the BOS, while Chris and Piper set to work on an all purpose vanquishing potion. "It's bad enough that he was married, to a demon no less, but a blond, a tall blond, with blue eyes, he couldn't have picked someone who was less like me"

"I think Aunty Phoebe, that was the point" Chris sighed as he stirred the mixture

"what d'you mean?" she puzzled.

"That, he was obviously still hung up on you, therefore he deliberately went out and chose someone who was your complete physical opposite, so that he wouldn't have to be reminded of you all day. For someone who has a psychology degree you aren't always on the ball sometimes"

"Cut me a little slack here Chris, I'm still getting over the issue that he was married"

"have you found that demon yet?" Piper cut in

"I think so" Phoebe turned the book towards them "Black Widow Demons" she read aloud "Groups of highly trained seductress demoness' who target powerful demons in the aim to amass their powers which they then pass to the source in exchange for money. Basically it's the same as Gold Digging wife, though instead of divorcing/killing their husband for money they do it for powers. Typical"

"What's the vanquishing potion?" Piper asked

" Add some Silver Wreed to the stuff your brewing and it should be fine"

Chris sprinkled in a handful, there was a small explosion and when the smoke cleared it revealed a thick blood like potion " Looks like we're ready to rumble"

"Great, let's get back and annihilate the blond bimbo" Phoebe stalked out of the room

Piper turned to Chris " I guess now wouldn't be the time to remind her that she herself went blond a couple of years ago?"

Chris grinned "Nah, do it later"

* * *

Back at the house warming Paige had nipped out to the back garden to check on the kids.

"Are you having a good time?" Paige asked Leona, Wyatt, Victor and Rosie who were all playing in the sand pit.

"Yes" they chorused

"Good" she replied, she made her way back toward the house, where she spotted Kyle pointing and waving.

"What?" she asked as she came to join him. He pointed to the corner of the living room where Poppy sat, head in her hands.

"Do you think we should go over?" Kyle asked, unsure

"Come on then" Paige sighed "though I am getting a little tired of offering tea and sympathy and having it thrown back in my face"

Poppy could hear two people approaching her side of the room, and looked up to find her parents standing over her, looks of concern on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Kyle sat down next to her

"Fine" she sniffed

"You don't look too fine" he continued gently

"well I am fine" she snapped

"so where is Daz?" Paige enquired

"went home"

"Why?"

"Because he did. Why do you care? You don't even like him"

"Because I care about you , and I care that you are upset"

"I'm NOT upset"

"Really? Or is the puffy eyed look in this season?"

"We spilt up okay? Happy now?" Poppy jumped up and bolted toward the hallway, pushing past Phoebe, Piper and Chris who had just orbed back into the downstairs toilet and were making their way back to the living room.

"Poppy!" Paige and Kyle went after her.

"Not you missey" Phoebe grabbed Paige's arm, "Vanquish demon first, kick daughters' ass later"

"Fine" Paige accepted a potion vial.

"Cole" Piper beckoned him over "Where is she?"

"In the garden" He pointed to Caroline who was serving nibbles to a group of guests "As far as I can tell she hasn't done anything untoward, she's been the perfect hostess, passing drinks round, mingling – it makes me want punch her overly styled perfect head"

"Right , you need to get her alone again, preferably upstairs or somewhere" Phoebe told him "that way we can enter, whack her with the vanquishing potion and hey presto"

"How do I get her away? It was hard enough last time?"

"Well, I was thinking…"

* * *

Out in the garden Caroline, turned away from the group of guests who were now laughing at one of her husbands jokes, and still clutching the tray she walked over to where the children were playing. Outwardly she may have appeared to be cool calm and collected, but inwardly she was shaking. The moment she had been introduced to the Halliwells, she had realised that Cole was now engaged to a Charmed One. This made things very awkward, especially as she knew it wouldn't be long before they figured out who she really was. Waving her hand quickly over the silver dish, the few remaining hors d'oeuvres disappeared and were replaced by 5 cookies.

Approaching the children she plastered on a fake smile "Hey" she said, causing them to look up "Ben, I don't suppose you remember me do you?"

Ben shook his head

"I knew you and your daddy a long time ago, when you were really little"

"Really?"

"Yes. I'm Caroline. Who are all your little friends here?"

"These are my cousins, Wyatt and Victor and Rosie and Leona" Ben pointed to each of the children.

"Nice to meet you" Caroline continued in her syrupy voice "Would you all like a cookie?" She held the tray out.

"Yes please" Ben replied, as the cousins innocently gathered round her in a circle, to collect their sweat treat.

_Aw_ Caroline thought, _it really is like taking candy from a baby…_

* * *

"..so then she follows you upstairs..got it?" Phoebe finished

"Yes" Cole replied

"Got the memory dust" Leo ran up, "The Elders were taking forever to hand it over, it's being rationed now due to misuse by some whitelighters"

"okay, so is she still in the .." Piper's words were drowned out by screams coming from the garden.

They rushed outside vials at the ready, only to find that Caroline was no where to be seen. "She's gone" Cole shouted scanning area

A sob rose up from Piper "NO" she cried, pointing to the corner, all eyes followed the end of her finger towards the sand pit where the children had been playing. "She's taken them"

Chris and Leo raced over to the deserted play area, there was nothing, apart from a silver tray with 5 cookies on it. Caroline had abducted the children………….

TBC


	11. The Road to Hell

**Disclaimer: I do not own charmed**

**a/n: Sorry for the delay. If it is any consolation, Chapter 12 is nearly finished so it shouldn't be too long**

**Chapter 11: The Road to Hell**

"Chris" Piper placed a comforting hand on his shoulder "You need to try and calm down a little"

"But she's gone!" he cried "My daughter is missing, vanished, disappeared, awol and you're telling me to calm down?"

It had been 15 minutes since the Caroline had taken the children, 12 minutes since Leo had sprinkled all the party guests with the memory dust and 10 minutes since the family had returned home in order to form a plan. Although all the parents were out of their mind with worry about what could have befallen their children, they all realised the importance of keeping a clear head, for as soon as they cobbled together a plan of action the sooner they would have their children back. All that is, apart from Chris.

"sweetie" Piper continued "2 of my children, my grand daughter and my nieces and nephew are all out there, I am that worried I feel physically sick, but your fretting is interrupting your father trying to sense for them" she pointed to Leo who stood with his eyes closed, his face contorted in concentration. "You need to be strong, for Leona"

"Anything?" Phoebe asked her brother in law

"Nothing" he replied "I can't get a read on Wyatt, and when I sense for Victor I only pick up a rather distressed Chris. You?" he asked Paige.

"Nope, neither Kyle nor I can sense Rosie" she cried despondently.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything" Cole interrupted, "there are many pockets in the underworld that fall off the whitelighter radar"

"So what are we supposed to do?" Phoebe asked "go down there and search every flipping nook and cranny? It could take hours and we need to find them now!"

"is there anyway of narrowing it down?" Kyle asked

"Well" Cole replied "Generally the deeper you go, the more hidden you are, as the deeper you go, the closer you get to the Source's lair…."

"See!" Chris screeched "am I allowed to panic now?"

XXX

In one of the deepest tunnels in the underworld a mini version of a chain gang was making its way slowly along the dimly lit passage. Wyatt was tied to Ben who was tied to Leona who was tied to Victor who was tied to Rosie.

"I want Daddy" Ben said to Wyatt, who merely nodded his head in agreement

" BE QUIET" Caroline roared turning round to face the frightened group of children. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU BRATS TO KEEP YOUR MOUTHS SHUT!"

The gang drew to a stop at a subterranean cross roads "wait here" She demanded as she walked over to a warlock who was standing guard.

"Leona" Wyatt whispered "Can you orb?"

"No" she shook her head " I tried"

"Me too" Wyatt sighed

Rosie, tired from the exertion on her toddler legs, collapsed to the floor, having a domino effect and pulling those tied to her down with her.

"Mummy go here?" Victor asked his brother, a hopeful look in his green eyes which were glittering in the torch light.

"Yes" Wyatt told him "Mummy and Daddy are coming" wishing desperately that it would come true.

"Up!" Caroline ordered, dragging them to their feet "we're almost there" she noticed Leona's face, scrunched up in concentration as if she was trying to orb.

"As you see, no orbing!" she laughed, "those ropes are made from pure hazeldog hair, there will be no magical transportation as long as you are wearing those!"

"Hurry up Daddy" Leona whispered to herself.

XXX

"There" Phoebe lined the bottles up on the table " 3 pints of Black Widow vanquishing potion, and 2 pints of All Purpose Demon vanquishing potion,"

"But nothing to actually vanquish the source with" Chris interjected

"It might not come to that" Piper told him

"You don't know that" he retorted

"Chris, we've taken the source out 3 times in the past, we can do it again if we have to" Piper continued

"I can vouch for that" Cole added

"so what's your strategy" Chris asked

"um, ordinarily we just wing it but.."Phoebe admitted

"wing it! Childrens lives are at stake" Chris stressed

"Don't you think we don't know that" Phoebe shouted

"Rosie must be tired" Paige's soft voice floated across the room "she didn't have her afternoon nap"

"It's okay" Kyle placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder "We'll find them soon"

"which" Piper took charge "is why we need to stop bickering and start fighting. Cole" she turned to the ex-source "you said that the closer you are to the source, the less you can be sensed by white lighters?"

"Yes, the road to Hell is paved with.."

"The road to Hell? Sweetie the entire underworld is hell!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"No" Cole shook his head "The road to H.E.L.L as in 'His Evilness' Loyal Lair' the sources' official residence. There is only one road that leads to it, and it is paved with granite stones that interfear with Whitelighters sensing skills. Its quite likely they are down there."

"well where is this road?" Piper asked

"It starts in the 3rd layer of the underworld"

"Okay then" Chris jumped to his feet" What are we waiting for! Lets go"

XXX

The children continued walking through the underworld, plunging into an ever deepening darkness as the torch lights guiding the way became fewer and fewer. Rosie and Victor were crying now, the pain in their legs too great for them to cope. Should anyone have been able to see Ben's face in the gloom, they would have seen an anxious look in his eyes, a stark contrast to the looks of silent determination etched across the faces of Wyatt and Leona.

After what seemed to be an eternity the small group reached the entrance to a large cavern, bright lights and a hum of conversation could be heard coming from within. Caroline held a whispered conversation with the two trolls who stood guard, they eventually stood aside and let the group pass.

The children were pushed into the centre of the room, falling into a heap upon the huge stone dias. Looking up they saw that they were surrounded by 12 hooded warlocks, spaced at equal distances around the dias, each stood to attention like guards.

Wyatt's blue protective shield rose up around him, he immediately reached for Victor and Rosie who were stood next to him, pulling them into its protective atmosphere. To his immense surprise a ring of flames rose around Ben, and a red shield sprang up around Leona.

"So what do we have here?" The source looked on "3 witch - lighter hybrids, a half demon and a half Phoenix, what a raggedy bunch"

He advanced forward peering at the children, yet addressing Caroline."where did you get these from?"

"You will like this I'm sure" Caroline smiled "They are the children of the Charmed Ones"

"What did you say?" The source snapped his head back

"That these are the Children of the Charmed Ones" she repeated basking in the glory of her own wonderus offering.

"You fool!" he cried, his voice echoing off the walls.

"Fool?" Caroline was confused, she had expected praise for such a fine catch. "But I thought you would be pleased, they have immense power for you to feed from, more than most demons.

"Of course they are! That little blonde haired boy is the almighty Twice-Blessed! But you have also foolishly brought us to the attention of the Charmed Ones, they will stop at nothing to get their children back. There is a reason why we haven't attacked in months, the underworld is still weak, we can't cope with that kind of whole scale devastation that occurs when the Charmed Ones want revenge.We may never recover, We have to wait, timing is everything . What is more they might discover our plan"

"what plan…?"

"THE plan! The rebuilding of the dark lighter army, the plan to.."

"..My liege.." a demonic henchman ran into the cage "sources above ground are reporting that some intellectually challenged demonic bit of fluff, kidnapped the children of the Charmed..Ones.." he noticed the group of children "Uh-oh"

"Yes Elrion" the source sighed "I know"

"So what do you propose I do with them?" Caroline pouted, gesturing to the children "I can hardly take them back"

"No" He replied "You can't.." he drew a silver athame from the scarbard on his belt. "It looks as though I will have to deal with the situation myself"

XXX

"How much further?" Piper asked as the group of parents crept down the deserted tunnel. They had decided not to orb straight into the lair as Kyle put it, it would have been akin to shooting fish in a barrel. Instead they had orbed about 300 metres away from the entrance, and were now making their way toward. H.E.L.L

"It's just down there" Cole gestured, pointlessly given that it was near total darkness

Chris' grip on the bottles of potion tightened, he grunted

"Chris" Leo whispered "I know you're scared, we all are, but when we get in there, you need to keep your head"

"Dad, those demons deserve everything that is coming to them"

"Yes they do, but the most important thing is that the children and us, we all come out safely, so don't go in all guns blazing ok?"

Silence

"Christopher"

"Yes, ok" he agreed grudgingly eyes narrowing

"good, because that's your mothers job"

XXX

"You know the old saying" the source traced the edge of the Athamne with his finger "If you want something doing properly , do it yourself"

"Of course" Caroline agreed, relieved that the source seemed to have forgiven her little faux pas.

"I'm glad you understand"

"I will still get a reward won't I?" she asked "I know they aren't the demonic powers you were after , but at the end of the day, powers are all that matter aren't they? No matter the origin"

"Yes" the source smiled "and you will be suitably compensated" he turned to the warlocks guarding the circle "Leave us!" he commanded, raising his arm, sending each of the men up and out of the Lair, leaving just himself and Caroline.

He walked slowly towards the children, still huddled in the centre of the dias.

"so much power" he murmed, allowing the athame to dangle close to Wyatt's shield

"I know" Caroline giggled, coyly "and all for you…"

"Yes..all for me.."

"so I did a good job?"

"Yes a very good job…" The source spun round quickly "…of ruining everything!" in an instant the atheame was at Caroline's throat, the blade digging into the flesh.

"I….."

"You stupid, stupid woman, you almost endangered everything with your idiotic scheme. A year we have been watching and waiting, and planning, and today you ruin everything by kidnapping the children of the Charmed One's on a whim. Our plan to.."

A an explosion outside the door drowned out his words "Buh-Bye now" Piper called to the remains of the warlock door guards.

The posse of parents ran into the room

"Oh look" Chris drawled " a welcome committee" The charmed ones flanked him, while Kyle, Leo and Cole moved to the side, ready to make a grab for the children.

"au contraire" the source replied, never moving his eyes from Caroline's face "I'm just about to leave" to the astonishment of the group, he flamed out.

"did the source just leave us to it?" Phoebe puzzled as Chris tk'ed crystals around Caroline, trapping her into a cage, the demoness in question being caught off-guard by the sources' disappearing act.

"yeah, tomorrows problem. Hey Bitch!" Piper shouted , as she and Paige waved bottles of vanquishing potion at her " We have a present for ya"

"Cole!" Caroline attempted one last desperate plea "Cole, please, don't let them do this to me….."

"It's a bit late for that now Carrie" he drawled

"but you loved me once..i can change..I'm sorry , I wasn't thinking.."

"Once, yes, but I was the source of all evil once as well. Things change, ladies.."

"My pleasure" Paige threw the vial at Caroline, hitting her squarely in the chest.

"and mine" Piper chucked a second

"and mine" Phoebe launched a third

"and not forgetting me" Chris planted the fourth straight between the eyes.

A scream followed and a whirl of white flames, and finally a pile of pink ashes appeared on the ground.

"There's your divorce!" Leo quipped

"Mummy!"

"Daddy!"

There were shrieks as the cousins launched themselves into their respective parents arms.

"So" Cole turned to Phoebe who was busy smothering Ben in kisses, "Do you want to book the church or shall I?"

XXX

TBC


	12. I Do

**Disclaimer: Charmed is not mine in any way shape or form**

**Chapter 12: I Do**

_**3 months later**_

It looked like a scene from a Bridal Magazine, the rows of guests seated on white wooden chairs, the bride and groom under a flower gazebo, carefully repeating their vows after the minister. They had wanted a church wedding, but decided that what with the various dead members of the family summoned for the day, and with the concentration of magic in one place making the ceremony a beacon for demonic attacks, it was better all round to have the wedding at the mannor, or in the mannor garden to be exact. There had been a worry that they may not have been able to fit everyone in, so the garden has been magically extended slightly. A wedding gift from the Elders, that is, the lifting on the personal gain consequences on any acts of magic performed that day.

The ceremony had gone well. Rosie and Leona the flower girls had behaved themselves, Ben , Wyatt and Victor, ring bearer and Page Boys respectively, had fulfilled their roles without too much fuss or misplacing of the rings. The rows of family and friends were all smiling contentedly and Patty was busy crying her eyes out in the front row while Penny watched indulgently.

"I pronounce you man and wife" the minister concluded "You may now kiss the bride" she noticed the twinkle in the piercing blue eyes of the groom, and suspected that this was the bit he had been waiting for as he dived toward his pretty bride.

The pair embraced, to many hoots and cheers from the crowd.

"Is mum alright?" Piper leaned over and asked her Grandmother.

"Oh she'll be fine" Penny waved her hand, "she got through 3 boxes of tissues at your wedding, she's only on her second"

"It's just so beautiful" Patty blubbed as the couple at the alter eventually broke apart.

"We actually did it!" the freshly married Charmed One squeaked into her new husbands ear.

"It was about time" he replied

"I'll say"

"well, getting you pregnant once was a mistake, twice careless, but three times, it really would have been rude not to have married you" Kyle continued.

"That was my plan all along" Paige giggled, patting her thankfully still flat stomach where the 10 – week old foetus was sleeping.

* * *

"Ohhhhhh" Phoebe sighed " That should be us up there"

"Um sweetie, it took you 2 months to _forgive_ me for marrying Caroline, which evidently was a crime, what with me being _single_, and you dating Jason and everything…" Cole replied "Anyway you only decided that the wedding was back on 4 weeks ago."

"FYI, I'm a female, it is my prerogative to change my mind. AND Kyle only proposed 3 weeks ago"

"Yes, but once again honey need I remind you that you want ceremony on the scale of the last Royal Wedding, it isn't possible to organise that kind of affair in 3 weeks like Paige and Kyle did , which is why we need another 3 months. That and Westminster Abby is booked up until March..."

"Ha Ha. Just watch is mister" the middle charmed one wagged her finger "Or I may change my mind again" .

* * *

_20 minutes later_

"Hey" Sam approached the newly weds as they mingled with their guests, "I hope I don't have to give you a talk about treating my daughter with respect" he told Kyle, semi-jokingly.

"Sam" Paige responded "The fatherly concern is appreciated, but you are both whitelighters, what exactly are you going to do if Kyle doesn't treat me right, hold peace talks?"

"hmmm…"

"Sam, I love Paige, nothing is going to change now that we are married, except that she is now legally entitled to all my worldly goods. I will always treat her with respect" Kyle assured

". ..well..3 children..and only just 30, perhaps you could do with slowing it down a little..that's all I'm saying.."

"Dad!" Paige exclaimed "enough!"

"Alright Alright" Sam ambled away, only to be replaced by Grams.

"Lovely ceremony darling, I couldn't have done it better myself" Grams hugged her

youngest granddaughter

"Is that a hint? Because I thought I explained, you couldn't be the high priestess because of the mortal guests…"

"no. no, it is easier if you get married the mortal way, it makes it easier for when you divorce"

"_when we divorce_?" Kyle exclaimed

"I meant _if" _Grams back-tracked

"Mother " Patty reprimanded, joining the crowd. "Not everyone gets married as many times as you did"

"Are you okay now?" Paige asked, indicating her mothers' puffy eyes.

"Yes I'm fine. It's just whenever I think of you girls, I always imagine you as the age you were when I last saw you when I was alive. So no matter how grown up you get Piper will always be a chubby 5 year old, Phoebe a rosie cheeked toddler, and you, my big brown eyed baby…" Patty cast her eyes down ward, and wiped her nose."Any way, where has this photographer got to?"

"He just rang" Leo snapped his mobile phone shut " This mornings wedding over ran, and he will be here as soon as he can"

"An hour!" Paige howled "How can we keep everyone hanging about for an hour, what about the meal?!"

"Give them all a drink" Grams suggested

"Great" Paige sighed " everyone will look sloshed in my wedding photos….."

* * *

A short while later Leo found Piper standing quietly by the wall in the sunroom.

Following his wife's gaze, he spotted Chris who was engaged in conversation with a girl he vaguely recognised as working with Paige.

"You know, there is a spell that can enhance your hearing so that you can listen to conversations from the other side of the room" Leo whispered

"Really? Is that…oh" Piper realised she had been caught out "I'm just taking an interest in our sons' friends"

"I see" Leo smiled

"Anyway," Piper decided to change the subject "are you sure that he doesn't remember anything" she pointed to Lilian and her grandson who stood with a small group of neighbours.

"yep" Leo confirmed, "The elders cast the modificatus memorandum spell, he doesn't even remember that he ever met Caroline, let alone was married to her"

"And he definitely isn't evil? I know I wasn't not Lily's greatest fan but I'd hate to think that he hurt her"

"Nope, the elders scanned him for evil, and it came up negative. Turns out Caroline was literally using him for his money, until she found her next demon to pray on"

"Good"

"Nana!" Leona came running up " I did what you asked, the lady daddy is talking to is called Julia"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Piper said loudly

"But you said…." Leona was confused

"NO , I didn't" Piper told her gently, while Leo raised his eyebrows

Leona pouted "But do I still get my 5$...?"

XXX

"Mr Cowan!" Paige exclaimed, as she mingled with her guests "great to see you"

"Paige" he kissed her on the cheek "it was a lovely service"

"Thank you, I 'm glad you could come"

"wouldn't have missed it" he shook Kyles hand

"Mama" Rosie toddled over, Paige scooped her up "hey little missy, I thought you were with grandma?" Rosie grinned devilishly

"Is that Rosie?" Mr Cowan cooed "she's grown so much"

"There she is!" Patty rushed up "I turned my back for 30 seconds and she was gone…oh hi" Patty greeted Mr Cowan "You must be Mr Cowan..so nice to meet you.."

"I'm sorry you are…" Mr Cowan asked 'grandma' a confused note in his voice, he noticed the strong family ressemblance , but wasn't Paige an orphan…..

"..Patty, Paige's mother" Patty supplied

"I thought Paige's parents were dead?"

"We are..I mean, _they are_,..her _adoptive_ parents are…" Patty got a bit flustered

"Gwamps!" Rosie interrupted, spotting her grandfather on the approach "gwamps!" she began to wriggle in Paige's arms

"Rosie, don't you.." Paige began but it was too late, Rosie had already orbed out and into her grandfathers arms.

"What the……?" Mr Cowan fortunately was the only mortal to have noticed.

"Kyle" Paige called

"I'm on it" he pulled what appeared to be a salt shaker from his tux pocket, very carefully he sprinkled 2 grains on Mr Cowan.

The social worker shook his head, as if trying to shake water from his ears. "What was I saying…."

"You were going to get another drink" Patty touched his arm "I'll take you"

"Now Rosie" Kyle reprimanded "what did mummy and I say, no orbing in public" Rosie merely grinned

"See, she listens to you about as much as your eldest daughter" Paige told him.

"It's a father – daughter thing" Sam began "daughters never listen to a word that.."

"…and speaking of our oldest Bundle of Joy, where is Poppy?" Paige interrupted

"Madam sloped off upstairs as soon as the ceremony was over" Kyle replied "I thought you had a word with her?"

"I did, I told her that I was marrying you and that was final, I wanted one day without sulks, arguments, and general mood swings- I mean you _are_ her father, not some random person off the street- and that she was to stand there in a bridesmaid dress and smile if it was the last thing on earth she did. Was that too much to ask?"

"I don't think so"

"Good"

"I thought she had been a bit better ever since she split up with Daz" Sam commented

"She has sort of, as in she has been less argumentative, and the smoking has stopped, but on the other hand she has been skipping more and more school, and her mood swings have become unbearable, she veers from silent and withdrawn one minute to angry and accusatory the next…"

"The photographer is here" Leo announced

"Right, you round the troops," Kyle told his wife "I'll go corral Mini the Minx"

Paige nodded as Kyle made his way upstairs.

XXX

"Hey" Piper approached a contemplative Chris, who was now sat by himself, looking glum

"all alone?"

"Yeah, Leona's playing with the boys"

"Oh, but earlier, you were talking to a, um,.. _friend,_ and I thought perhaps…"

"mum, you know something? You never change"

"What? I think it would be good for you to have a friend.."

"well unfortunately , Julia didn't seem to want to be my _friend.."_

"..Julia, so that was her name.."

"..like you didn't know!"

"I didn't!..but in all honestly Chris, what's wrong? You don't seemed like yourself and you haven't done for the past couple of weeks"

"It doesn't matter"

"If it is about you it matters, it will _always_ matter, no matter how old you get"

"it's nothing that you can do…."

"Try me…."

XXX

"Poppy" Kyle shouted as he walked along the landing "The photographer is here"

"_Poppy_" he knocked on the bedroom door "I don't care that you hate your bridesmaid dress, that you don't like the fact your mother made you curl your hair or that you think marriage is an outdated tradition, you are going to get your arse downstairs and have your photo taken. If you even manage to look happy about it I may see my way to giving you a financial reward."

A noise, which sounded like a grunt came from within. Kyle felt his hackles rise

"THAT IS IT" he roared, all thoughts of a peaceful negociation coming to the end. He pushed the door open and barged into the room.

Poppy lay curled up in the foetal position on her bed, still in her bridesmaid dress. Upon hearing her father enter the room she lifted her head, tears glistening in her eyes "I'm sorry daddy" she whispered, her voice horse "I tried.."

Kyle cast his eyes downwards, a large crimson patch stained the pale silk folds of her dress, matching the colour of the blood soaked bedsheets on which she was lying. A sodden towel laid to the side. "I tried…"Poppy sobbed "to stop it..but I couldn't.."

Kyle gasped in horror

"make it stop daddy please" she continued "please" she pleaded, before finally closing her eyes………..

TBC


	13. Tears before Bedtime

**a/n: The end is nigh….Chapter 15 will be the last!**

**Chapter 13: Tears before Bedtime**

The journey time from the Halliwell Mannor to San Francisco memorial hospital is approximately 10 minutes by car, 5 minutes by ambulance and 0.5 seconds when orbing. However for Paige, time stopped from the second that Kyle appeared in the living room of the mannor, an unconscious Poppy in his arms calling for help.

It was Mr Cowan who had the presence of mind to call an ambulance, mainly because he was unaware of the whitelighters' healing touch, but also his emotional detachment meant that he was thinking clearly, which the Halliwells were not. Given that none of the white lighters were able to heal Poppy, it was fortunate that the ambulance turned up when it did.

Paige and Kyle had gone in the ambulance, the rest of the family had chosen to orb, and were already in the Casualty waiting area, when Poppy was brought in. Kyle shouting "I don't know I don't know" in response to the doctors urgent questioning about what may have caused his daughters condition, was taken off to fill in admissions forms, and the women were on hand for Paige, when she collapsed into tears and fell into Patty's welcoming arms, pulling a blanket over the thin material of her wedding dress.

Chris would later state that they had only been waiting 20 minutes before the doctor came out to discuss Poppy, though Paige would argue that it was longer, an agonising wait on a hard plastic chair. The doctor appeared, clutching a clip board, a solom expression on his face.

"Mr & Mrs Brody" the two parents leapt to their feet "You will be pleased to hear that we have managed to stop the bleeding"

"Oh thank god" Paige was partly relieved, after all _that was a good sign wasn't it?_

"But as I am sure you realise, your daughter _has_ lost the baby" He told them gently.

Paige stared blankly at the man. _Had he just said….?_ The title on his ID showed that he was a Senior House Officer, he was experienced, there was no way that he had made a mistake…

Misinterpreting the look of utter shock on the parents' faces as grief, the doctor continued, "Miscarriages are always traumatic, but especially once you have passed the 16 week stage. Poppy has lost a significant amount of blood, and for that we needed to give her a transfusion, she is very weak, the nurses are just cleaning her up and then you can come through and see her"

"Thank you" a blind sided Kyle managed to stutter as he turned to his wife. "Did you…?" Kyle trailed off unable to complete the sentence

"of course not! I never even…." Paige breathed as the stunned couple made their way down the corridor.

XXX

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Piper asked Chris as the group exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"No!" he exclaimed pointing to Victor "Mum baby me is barely 3 I wouldn't remember, if this _did_ happen in the original timeline then it was extremely well covered up because I have absolutely no recollection of it ever being talked about"

"OK"

"Also, don't you think I would have at least given you a heads up on an event that nearly killed my cousin"

"calm down Chris, I only asked"

"well I'm fed up of being the crystal ball ok?!" he stalked over to the vending machine

"what's wrong with him?" Leo whispered

"I wish I knew" Piper replied

XXX

The door to Poppy's room was open and Paige could see her daughter lying in the centre of the bed, swamped by pillows, she looked tiny, much younger than her age, _and much to young to be p….._

"I'm sorry mummy, I'm so sorry daddy" Poppy burst into tears upon her parents arrival in the room.

Kyle sat down on one side of the bed, Paige on the other, neither said a word, each too scared to open their mouths in case they started crying, when all they wanted to do was be strong for their daughter.

Poppy interpreting their silence as anger, cried even harder "I really am so sorry" she wiped her eyes on her gown sleeve " you can chuck me out if you want to, it's okay, I've let you down, I don't deserve you, I'll go away, I'll go back to a foster home or something or to boarding school, you won't have to look at me, but please don't hate me"

"Poppy" Paige placed her hand over her daughters' "we are not angry at you. Shocked yes, confused yes, disappointed that you kept this from us, yes, but angry? No, hate you? Never"

"But I was…._pregnant_.." Poppy choked out the word

"I know" Paige continued "and I can't say that I'm not upset that this is the way things turned out, that history was repeating itself once again, but what's done is done"

" but how can you just be so accepting?" Poppy asked "after everything I've done"

"Who would I be to cast the first stone?" Paige squeezed her daughters hand "when essentially I did the same thing".

"and anyway" Kyle spoke up "right now, we're just relieved that you are out of danger. I still don't understand why you didn't tell us anything"

"Because it wasn't supposed to happen….."

XXX

Out in the waiting area, the children were getting restless. They had exhausted the small selection of toys and were now bickering amongst each other. Chris' bad humour showed no sign of abating and Grams had been lecturing all of them for the past half an hour on how to deal with wayward teenagers.

"I think we need to take them home" Piper stood up, indicating the 'Brat Pack' who were now rolling all over the floor

"Good idea" Cole agreed.

"right, we'll leave Rosie here with mum in case Paige wants her, you shimmer back with your kids, and Chris can orb me back with our lot" Piper told him.

"I'll come too" Leo offered

"No, you stay here in case mum or grams need to be orbed home. Besides I want to have a word with Sir Sulks- a –lot over there, he was going to tell me something before all this kicked off, and I want to find out now."

"OK, but if you need me, just call"

"will do" she pecked him on the cheek. "Chris, we're going now!"

"but…"

"NOW"

XXX

"It was just the once" Poppy said, taking a deep breath, studying the edge of her mattress not wanting to meet her parents gaze, "I didn't really want to, but Daz did..and it doesn't matter now.."

"Daz! I should have known" Kyle shouted

"_KYLE_" Paige sushed her husband.

"..anyway..i thought I might be pregnant, so I told Daz, that's what we were arguing about the day that the little ones were kidnapped. He said that it was my fault because I should have taken care of things like that. I told him that I didn't want to keep it, and that I just wanted his help to try and do something about it, asked him if he would come with me to a clinic so that I could discuss the options or at least support me when I broke the news to you two. But he wouldn't, he point blank refused, so I told him if he walked away now then I never wanted to see him again. and he did."

"but why didn't you tell us?" Kyle asked.

"I just _couldn't_. First the little ones were kidnapped, then you announced you were pregnant, then you announced you were getting married. It was just one thing after the other. Also, part of me just wanted it to go away, I thought that I might have a miscarriage , and that way I wouldn't have to tell you…I guess I got what I wished for…" Poppy gripped the edge of the blanket tighter, tears running down her face "I wished that my baby didn't exist and it came true, I killed it" she sobbed.

"Poppy this is _not_ your fault" Paige bundled her daughter into her arms "whatever caused it, was not your fault"

"I haven't felt well for a couple of days," Poppy sniffed " then last night I woke up with stabbing pains in my stomach, so I took some pain killers. This morning it came back, so I took some more, I kept telling myself that if I could just make it through the ceremony without passing out then everything would be ok. I didn't want to ruin your day, you were so happy…"

".hush now" Paige soothed

"so I went upstairs the minute the ceremony was over, I saw that I was bleeding, and I tried so many spells, but nothing worked, and it just wouldn't stop bleeding I tried and tried…and I wanted to tell you, but I just felt really woozy, I couldn't move.."

"It's okay now" Kyle told her "It doesn't matter anymore"

"It does" Poppy cried "my baby died because I denied it's existence, I ignored it, I willed it away, it's all my fault"

"Poppy! You just listen to me, I know this is hard to hear, but this miscarriage happened for a medical reason, not a mental one, so stop blaming yourself."

"But it wasn't supposed to happen!" she insisted

"What wasn't supposed to happen?" Kyle hoped for some clarity.

"This" Poppy gestured. "Bad stuff, not to me, not any more"

"I don't understand" Kyle puzzled.

"Before, when I was 'Jo', I was polite, kind, caring considerate, always did my home work on time, never did anything wrong, yet bad things just kept happening to me. It's almost as if I had some reverse Karma. My adoptive parents died, my uncle died, aunty Prue died, you nearly died..so I thought, if I was a good person, but bad things just kept happening, perhaps if I was a 'bad' person, then good things would happen to me. I had to change, I was scared, all the people I had ever cared about had died or were dying, and I thought that it would only be a matter of time before you died too and I couldn't cope with that."

"Poppy…" Paige began

"..and that's why, I've always been horrible to you" Poppy looked at Kyle "because yes, okay at the beginning I was jealous that I had mum all to myself and then you turned up, but later I deliberately pushed you away. I didn't want to get close to you only for you to leave me.."

"..Poppy" Paige continued, "I wish you had told us all this, months ago"

"_But it was working_! I was a horrible, vile person, yet nothing bad happened to me! Until today….."

"Poppy, just because all those people in your life died, doesn't mean that your mother and I necessarily will. Other people's destinies are not effected by whether or not _you_ are a good or bad person. The only person you are effecting by your behaviour is yourself."

"but…."

"Sweetheart, you have been through a lot in your life, and trust me, if I could have protected you from all or any of it, I would have. In fairness, given the circumstances, most people in your situation would have been tempted to go off the rails a bit, but part of what makes you , you, was that inner strength you had, the one that kept you plowing forwards, meeting everything face on. I should have realised after Prue died that something wasn't quite right…"

"It's not your fault mum, if there is one thing this family does well, it is keeping things from each other when we want to"

"Yes but still, I…"

"How about" Kyle interrupted "we draw a line under all this? I'm not saying forget about it, after all we learn from our past behaviour, what I mean is, does anyone fancy a fresh start?"

"How can I?" Poppy asked " I have to go back to school and see Daz, and Julia and Becky and everyone that I have ignored for the past year or so, the teachers hate me, .."

"well actually" Paige admitted "you might not have to"

"Why ?"

"I went to see the principal last week, and quite frankly between the amount of lessons that you have skipped, the detentions, suspensions and black marks that you have acrued, you would have been expelled months ago if it hadn't have been for the fact that we pay your tuition fees. Which got your father and I thinking, that perhaps St Francis' is no longer the right place for you."

"Oh"

"and maybe you would prefer to start again in Baker High, when you are ready of course"

"Really? No more epic bus journeys across the city? No more woollen kilts, no more mass in latin first thing in the morning?"

"Yes – but only when you are ready, when I mean a fresh start, I meant a fresh start emotionally too, no more bottling your feelings up." Kyle was firm

"Ok"

"you need time to recover both physically and mentally from today, and then that way we can all move on. Do you think you are up for that?"

"Yes" Poppy said slowly "I think I am.."

XXX

TBC


	14. Is it too much to ask?

**A/N: sorry for the wait , life and all that jazz. I seem to have lost quite a few people, which is a shame as the end is so close and I was quite happy with the way the last 2 chapters turned out, but that's life. Thanks to those who are still hanging in there. This chapter was originally supposed to be part of chapter 13, but 13 was so mamouth that I decided to leave it out.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own charmed**

**Chapter 14: Is it too much to ask?**

Cole, Chris and Piper appeared back in the manor with their motley crew of children in toe. The wedding guests had dispersed with the exception of Darryl who had been waiting patiently for their return. After reassurances that Poppy would be fine, and thanks for the start he had made on the clearing up, Darryl went, Cole settled the children into bed, leaving Piper and Chris alone downstairs to talk.

"so what do you want to know?" Chris asked, slightly peeved at being cornered by his mother

"many things, what is the meaning of life?, which are the winning lottery numbers? Whats the secret to youthful looking skin? But right now I'll settle for, what's wrong with you?"

"nothing's wrong with me"

"No? Then why have you had a face like a slapped arse for the past few weeks. I can almost see the thunder cloud above your head."

" I haven't.." Chris began to argue then gave up. "alright so I may have been a little off lately"

"Care to tell me why?"

"Not really"

"Yeah Chris, that was a rhetorical question, you have precisely 10 seconds to spill the beans'

'or what?'

'or the veritus potion comes out of storage'

'that's a low blow, mum, using the truth potion on your own son'

'yep. But don't think that I won't'.

'right…'

'so..?'

'I've been thinking a lot about Jenny recently'

'oh for the love of god! You're not honestly thinking of getting back together with that little tart are you? Twice she has run away from you, I don't really think that is grounds for a serious and stable relationship. Besides, it's getting a little repetitive isn't it.."

"Gee, mum, why don't you say what you really feel! But, no I am not thinking of getting back together with her, thanks for your concern"

"Then why..?"

"I wasn't thinking about her necessarily, I was thinking about the whole situation. Her reaction to the big bad magical secret was fairly standard, she got her head around it, like most people do eventually, well except perhaps for Jason.."

"well Jason was a bit of himbo, he barely had enough brain cells to get himself out of bed in the morning, so any attempt to understand magic was just too much exertion for the poor man…"

"_anyway…._it's not the magic thing that is the problem. It's the time travel thing. No matter how it is explained, between me, and Leona, and 'Victor' I really don't think that any girl will ever truly understand it, or come to be completely at ease with it"

"Chris, you shouldn't let yourself get weighed down by worrying what some possible girlfriend might think. You have much better things going on in your life at the moment, like your daughter for one."

"and that it my point mum. Leona. She deserves a mother figure in her life. Of course I'd like to be in a relationship, but not just for me, for her to experiance the same kind of family unit I had. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, ….but where is all this coming from?

"I was speaking to that woman, Julia at the party today, and we were having fun, and she made some off the cuff comment about how she loves weddings, blah blah, and I suddenly realised, that I will never be able to get married, or doing anything like that"

"Aren't you exaggerating a little?"

"No, if I ever want to get close to someone without it being awkward, I 'm going to have to keep the time travelling thing a secret…and I can't keep something like that away from someone I love…"

" Chris…."

"and there are other things too…while I was thinking about all this recently, I realised that I miss Wyatt, really and truly miss him, we used to talk everything through back before he went evil. I thought I would be okay without that in this timeline…but I know really I wasjust winging it"

"Chris, sweetheart, what are you trying to tell me?"

"That I may have made a mistake in staying here…"

TBC


	15. Denouement

**a/n: This is finally the end! I think I have lost quite a lot of people along the way, but thank you to everyone who has kept with this, from the very first ( and extremely badly written) chapter of Opening up the Can of Worms, all the way through Letting the Cat out of the Bag until now, the last chapter in the trilogy. No more sequels, I feel all the characters have run their course. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed**

**Chapter 15: Denouement**

**6 months later.**

"Paige, we're waiting" Chris shouts from the doorway, his voice echoing down the narrow staircase and along the upper floor landing, his cry reaching the ears of its intended recipient.

The rest of the family are gathered in the attic, 5 generations of magical, mortal and demonic creatures all under one timber framed roof. Subconsciously they have assembled themselves in a chronological line, with Grams and Patty at the far left of the room , spanning across to Leona at the far right.

A joke is made about Paige being late for her own funeral, Wyatt is reprimanded for getting dust on the hem of his dress trousers, and finally the sounds of foot steps on the wooden stairs are heard, and Paige enters the room.

"I was just changing Lily" she exclaims, indicating the squirming bundle in her arms. Phillipa Grace Halliwell, or 'Lily' as she is known, entered the world 3 weeks ago, surprising everyone, not least her parents, with her arrival, 6 weeks earlier than expected.

Lily is surrendered into the arms of her grandmothers who commence the age old tradition of cooing and ahing and proclaiming her likeness to other members of the family.

"In all these years I never knew you were one for horticulture, is the next one going to be Marigold?" Cole quips, earning himself a confused look from the youngest charmed one. "what I mean is, Poppy, Rosie, now Lily…do you not see the theme..?"

A Blank look.

"Flowers! It was a joke, see…" He trails off as Phoebe's hand comes to rest on his chest, the gold of the wedding band on her left hand, identical to the one on Cole's much larger hand, glints in the rays of light coming through the stained glass window.

"Honey" she begins, "It's not a joke if you have to explain it…"

"don't worry uncle Cole, I got it" Reassurance comes in the shape of the 16 year old in the corner.

The hair is no longer jet black, it has lightened to its natural chocolate brown, the make-up is still heavier than her parents would like, the clothes inhabit a space somewhere between Gap and Goth, but the attitude is gone. Buried the day she made peace with her past. Kyle and Paige were worried at first, how to help their daughter grieve for a baby when she was no more than a child herself, compounded by the fact that Paige was pregnant and growing more obviously so by the day. They were frightened that this might push Poppy over the edge, to someplace from where they would never get her back. Poppy however, showed she was a Halliwell through and through, she picked herself up, brushed herself down, and after starting afresh at Baker High, threw herself into life. Occasionally Paige or Kyle will catch her standing over Lily's bassinet gazing wistfully, but they know these moments will become few and far between as time passes.

Piper glances at her watch "I really guess we should start." Her natural desire for the smooth and orderly running of business is what prompts her to speak, because in her heart she would rather they stand here forever if needs be.

Leo gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, and nods over her head to Kyle, who is slowly turning to the appropriate page in the Book of Shadows.

The Baby is relinquished to it's mothers waiting arms, as Grams sets forth summoning the matriarchs of the Halliwell line.

The ghosts appear one by one, filling the space at the opposing end of the attic. Mirroring their modern day counterparts, they too are assembled in order, Melinda Warren through to a spectral Prue, waving enthusiastically at the end of the row.

Despite the solemnity of the situation, Phoebe can't help but allow herself to think that this tableaux looks like some bizarre version of a war epic, both sides lined up as if they are ready to charge.

Chris can feel his heart beating in his ears, and his mouth is dry. He doesn't want to face his parents right now. Instead he blocks out the sight and sound of what is happening around him and studies his hands, there is still chalk under the finger nails from his earlier travails.

He doesn't need to look at his mother to know that she is crying. He can feel it, as he can feel the fact that his father too is equally moved. Wyatt, Leona and his younger self are all too blissfully unaware to feel anything accept a slight annoyance of giving up a Saturday playing in the park to be stood around in a dusty attic in their best clothes.

A noise, a gentle chant breaks through the vacuum surrounding him, and he becomes aware that they have started. The ghosts of Halliwells past and the living Halliwells of the present are finishing their spell, voices chiming in unison. From the corner of his eye he sees the familiar bright blue light. It is time.

This was not a decision made lightly. He did not toss a coin, spin a bottle or close his eyes and stick his finger out. Coming to the past, hadn't been a choice, it had to be done, to save Wyatt, to save his family, to save good magic, hell on some scale to save the world. He hadn't thought about what would happen when it ended, what he would do if and when he succeeded. He knows now that his decision to stay in the past wasn't really a decision at all. He was running away, a fools choice, putting off going back to the future because he was afraid of what he might find.

When he first told his mother that he wanted to return to the future, that night after Paige's wedding she had cried, begged him to stay. He had weakened and said yes, even though he knew it was wrong, not being able to bear seeing her so distressed. Then his father had come home, the voice of reason, and the font of knowledge. They had talked. In the morning she had appeared in his room, told him that part of being a mother was to put her children's best interests ahead of her own, that she was sorry, and that is he wanted to go back he should and could.

It was Paige who suggested that he stay until the baby was born. Daft suggestion really, given that he would be meeting her in the future, but for some reason he found himself agreeing. 6 months had passed, but now, on the 5th anniversary of his arrival in the past, he was going, going home.

"Chris", His father pulls him out of his reverie, with a gentle hand placed on his back, " we don't know how much longer the portal will stay open.

A hug and a kiss is given to grams, grandma, the aunts, and cousins. "Tell my older self that I hope she is using anti-wrinkle cream" Phoebe says. A manly hand shake to Kyle and Cole.

A hug to his father who promises once again that he will be there, and if he's not then Chris has his permission to hunt him down and blow him up. "Thanks Dad", a small grin appears. "I'm proud of you son." Leo turns away, not wanting Chris to see the small tear that escapes and runs down his cheek.

He finds himself in front of his mother. She is crying openly now. "Thank you" she murmurs, gripping him tight, "don't ever forget that I love you." They both know what this is for. The pink elephant of her premature death still haunts them both, was it tied to Wyatt's evil destiny or was it her fate all along?. He will know the answer soon enough, but oddly enough he is calm. These past 5 years of memories will do wonders to assuage the pain should the worst come to the worst.

"Come on pumpkin" he picks up Leona who has finished saying her goodbye's "time to rock and roll"

He walks towards the glow of the triquetra, mere inches from the wall he stops and turns one last time. His eyes gaze over Paige, Lily in her arms, flanked on either side by Poppy and Kyle, Rosie sat at their feet, onwards to Grams holding Paloma and Grandma holding his younger self, Wyatt and Ben playing on the floor, Phoebe leaning against Cole, and finally his parents, red-eyed but smiling, his father's arm protectively wrapped round his mother's waist. He turns back, hugs Leona tighter to him, and steps forward into the light, into the future.

THE END


End file.
